Local women's idea grows into hit with community

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Parents pushing strollers, nine-to-fivers on their way home from the daily grind, and seniors with dogs in tow peruse the day's fresh selections at booths along the eastern edge of the park.

Children make the next addition to the fridge at the art station set up under the shade of a big tree, while neighbours mingle on the grass. The community is out enjoying the newest fixture in East Lynn Park, the East Lynn Farmers' Market. It began June 5 and runs every Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. until Oct. 30.

Farmers from Waterford, St. Catharines and other rural Ontario communities make their way to the market on Danforth Avenue to offer up fresh fare to people in the Danforth east neighbourhood. On this particular day items range from corn to flowers to cheese to peppers, from honey and fresh bread to organic eggs and plums. The bright yellows, greens and reds catch the eye as shoppers make their way along the line of matching white tents that border the East Lynn Road and Danforth Avenue sides of the park.

The market was the idea of a group of women in the area that calls itself Farmilicious Femmes.

"It started as part of the Danforth East Revitalization Project. We just wanted to do something for the community and local in the park," said Alison McMurray, one of the Femmes.

The group started thinking about it last fall and then joined up with Farmers' Markets Ontario in January.

"That was great because they could get the farmers on board. We could get the community," said Mary-Margaret McMahon, another of the Femmes.

The two say the market has been successful since its inception, more so than they thought it would be in the beginning.

That success is thanks to support from people such as Liz and Bruce Arkwright who drop by on a regular basis.

"Every week we've been coming for the past month," Liz said.

Bruce likes it because there are organic options and all of it is local.

"We want to support our local farmers... We need to appreciate all the work farmers do gives us fresh products," Liz added.

Stephanie Kincaid made her first visit to the market Aug. 14, despite wanting to give it a try since it started.

"I miss it every single Thursday," she said. "I purposely didn't buy vegetables at the grocery store this week because I was going to come."

It was a successful trip as she headed home loaded up with lettuce, celery, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and green peppers - and she still needed to visit the bread booth.

"It's fresh and it's local," she gave as her reasons for wanting to shop there.

"I've been trying to do the 100-mile diet, too," she said referring to a book penned by a Canadian couple who make a year-long attempt to eat foods grown and produced within a 100-mile radius of their home.

And Kincaid knows exactly where the vegetables purchased at the local market came from.

Angela Russo, a St. Catharines-area farmer who comes to two other markets in addition to East Lynn, said her customers like buying directly from the farmer.

"People want to put a face to the product they're buying. If people have a question I can answer it," she said. "People want to know where their food is coming from."

Russo said this is one of her better markets both because of the customers, but also the organizers.

"They're amazing," she said. "They're so friendly."

The Femmes provide the farmers with dinner each Thursday because farmers work long days and have a long drive home, McMahon explained.

"This has just really brought the community together," McMahon said,