Shelton Farmer Proposes Year-Round Market With More Management

has been independently run under the supervision of resident growers since it was first established in 1993, but that could change if one member succeeds in expanding the operation, starting with increased hours and policing.

Stacia Monahan, owner of on Saw Mill City Road, met with the Conservation Commission in Wednesday night to propose that a sub-committee be formed to oversee a winter market and bring more transparency to customers.

Currently under the management of Guy Beardsley, the Market works under what is essentially a glorified honors system: local vendors can sell their produce so long as they pay annual fees, are approved by the Department of Agriculture and have liability insurance for the site (that little pavilion in the parking lot next to the Riverwalk slab.)

“It would play a big role in downtown revitalization,” Monahan said of year-round sales. “This could be a benefit to Shelton and surrounding towns because [the Market] is located right off Route 8.”

Additionally, Monahan is calling for more input from Shelton residents in how the Market is run. She believes this would create a transparency factor that allows customers to be sure they are getting what they pay for.

“There should be a little more additive from the community involved in this,” she said.

The Farmers Market has always been a seasonal affair, beginning around June and ending in early November, with hours of operation Wednesdays 3 - 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monahan would like to see Shelton’s Market guidelines more closely model that of CitySeed, Inc. in New Haven, a farmers market that is open all year and has full time management staff.

Local vendors strongly disagree.

“We’re a very tight group of people that have been together many years,” said Jenelle Beardsley, a Market member. She and others present at the meeting voiced concerns that bringing in a committee to police business would create an unnecessary bureaucracy. In other words, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“This is a very open, friendly, transparent market,” said Bob Mingrone, who has been a member with his wife Darlene since 2002. He added that year-round hours most likely wouldn’t be worth it in Shelton. “Once Labor Day hits, things start to slow down. Plus there is much less foot traffic in Shelton compared to New Haven.”

Many of the members see Monahan’s efforts as a means of taking control from Guy Beardsley and alienating vendors.

“You cannot ask farmers to start being prepared for a winter market in September, “ Darlene Mingrone said. “The only people who could support a winter market is Stacia [Monahan], and I just don’t think that’s fair right now.”

Monahan said her intentions are anything but selfish: “I’m not looking to take over anything. I’m just trying to expand it for the good of the community.”

Monahan is also concerned that business is not consistently ethical. Because Shelton vendors can accept payment in vouchers from the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, they could be passing off wholesale produce as their own to bring in more profit. Monahan recalls an incident where strawberries from California were being touted as locally grown.

CitySeed, Inc. avoids such incidents through farm tours, where members visit and keep tabs on each other’s land to ensure a farmer’s harvest is genuine.

“The way Shelton’s market is being run now, there’s no public accountability,” Monahan said, something her proposed sub-committee would inject.

Amanda Oram, a Shelton resident and Market frequenter, said she has never seen a vendor take advantage of the system. “The farmers don’t do this to get rich,” she said, “they do it to work the land and take care or our land. I have a long history with the Market and with Guy [Beardsley]; I’ve never found Guy to not be transparent.”

Shelton farmers present at the meeting agreed that beefing up staff, sale time, security and advertising would put strict rules and regulations in place of the warm camaraderie they’ve always worked under. Conservation Commission member Jim Tate assured them that “the last thing we’re going to do is limit a market.”

Commission chairman Tom Harbinson suggested Monahan and Market members meet with CitySeed, Inc. representatives to open dialogue for tips on sales and management. “Right now we need to digest all the information,” he said before ending the discussion.

Oram suggested that a joint-committee consisting of farmers and Shelton citizens, with Guy Beardsley as president, might be a fair compromise. For now, though, don’t expect to be shopping at the Market when the leaves and snow start to fall.