Last
fall Al West, Executive Director of FORGE, approached the Huntsville
City Council requesting permission to restart the then defunct
farmers market. With the blessing of the city fathers, West began
working with the City Clerk and the city's Revitalization committee.
From that small beginning, a working group of growers emerged
willing to begin this new market.
Fast
forward a few months and you find that the Madison County Farmers
Market is underway with three growers. Armed with a $2,000 grant,
the producers begin advertising and passing the word out about
the new market. A start-up board is organized and work begins
on incorporating the farmers market.
Today,
the market has signed on ten producers and/or craft makers from
the surrounding countryside. Already a local group of buyers are
frequenting the market every Tuesday morning enjoying meeting
with friends and looking over and buying the fresh produce, plants
and locally made handicrafts.
A
farmers market is a good example of the community development
work FORGE is doing in several Ozark communities.
Click
here for more images from the Farmers Market.