Future brightening at Printer’s Row Farmers Market
By Miriam Cintron
It is a Saturday morning in early August, and the open-air farmers market on the corner of Dearborn and Polk Streets has been open for nearly two hours. More than half a dozen shoppers slowly make their way around the tables and browse through the fruits, vegetables, flowers, and baked goods ready to be sold. Some leave with bags full of produce in one hand and flowers in the other. It seems as though sales at Printer’s Row Farmers Market are getting better, after a rocky start that had vendors wondering whether they should come back next year.
Business “was slow, but picked up in the last few weeks,” said Stephan Chundy, who sells baked goods at the market. Farmer Chris Elzinga of Elzinga Farm Market in Dyer, IN, agreed. “People really responded to the ads,” said Elzinga, who began selling produce at Printer’s Row for the first time this year.
In late July, the South Loop Neighbors organization learned that vendors at the Printer’s Row Farmers Market were considering not returning next summer—business at the current location had been very slow after the market initially opened in June, said SLN president Paulette Boyd. Some of the farmers who participate drive to the city from as far away as Michigan and Indiana. “That’s a lot of work for a small return,” Boyd said.
As a result of having to pay for transportation and all the work that goes into setting up for the farmers market, “a farmer has to at least break even,” said Yescenia Mota, the farmers market coordinator at the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.
The vendors did not threaten to leave if things did not change right away, but said they would reconsider coming back if they did not receive any support, Boyd noted.
For some farmers, selling produce at farmers markets is their only source of income, Mota said. She added that some farmers do up to six markets in a day in the city and suburbs in order to make a decent living, making it all the more important to have Printer’s Row be worth their while. “All businesses are dealing with a lot,” Boyd said. “A lot of things affect sales.”
Still, it seems as though lack of promotion was at least partly responsible for the slow start. Boyd said she had not seen many advertisements for the market.
Boyd mentioned there is a brochure put out by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events advertising the locations and hours of various farmers markets. She explained it is likely the City prints millions of brochures in order to promote the vendors, but added that she has not seen many in the area. As a result, South Loop Neighbors has stepped up efforts to promote the market, placing signs in the area’s condominium developments and elsewhere.
Also, local businesses will be encouraged to advertise the market, Boyd added, noting that the market does not pose significant competition.
The farmers market adds character to the neighborhood and so it is important for the neighborhood to support it and keep it alive, Boyd said. She added she is optimistic the market will be back next summer because she has already seen an “upturn in foot traffic.”
Alderman Madeline Haithcock of the 2nd Ward also is doing her part to keep the farmers market in the area. The Alderman put out a letter to Printer’s Row and Dearborn Park residents to “alert the community to take advantage of it,” said Cynthia Young, Haithcock’s legislative assistant. Mota said that the Printer’s Row Farmers Market has “a lot of potential” because it is in a good location, considering the new residential developments being built and the number of new residents they are attracting.
Mota said she hopes to build more awareness of the market in order to bring in more farmers and consumers, and noted her group is “working very hard” to do so. There currently are four farmers who regularly sell their goods at Printer’s Row. Mota, likening the issue to a “chicken or the egg” situation, explained that when the number of farmers increases, more consumers would be drawn to the market because there would be more products to choose from.
Aside from the brochure listing all the farmers markets that are available, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events has made information available on the City’s web site and in public libraries in order to promote Printer’s Row and other farmers markets, Mota said. She added that farmers markets are important because people are becoming more health conscious and more concerned about where their food comes from.
Printer’s Row Farmers Market will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 21. For more information, call the Mayor’s Office of Special Events at (312) 744-3315 or visit www.CityofChicago.org.
