POLL: Farmers Market Considers Management Changes [VIDEO]

At last month’s Conservation Commission meeting, one Shelton farmer , which has been independently run under the supervision of resident growers since it was established in 1993.

Stacia Monahan, owner of , said she would like to see the Market run year-round and with more management for “transparency.” Currently it is open twice a week from June to early November and is managed by “Market Master” Guy Beardsley. Monahan suggested a framework similar to that of New Haven’s CitySeed, Inc., where a committee of board directors and two elected farmers oversee operations at five different markets, two of which are open in the winter.

Commission Chairman Tom Harbinson invited CitySeed’s executive director, Nicole Berube, to attend last night’s meeting in to explain to Shelton’s farmers how their management system works.

“We enjoy a professional market management because we can afford to. We charge [vendor] fees and so we have $35,000 worth of fees being collected throughout the year,” Berube said.

That money is put toward the salaries for a market manager and an assistant market manager, signage and insurance costs. CitySeed also receives grants and runs for-pay discount programs to bring in additional revenue.

“If CitySeed didn’t have professional market management that was paid, I don’t know how we would do it, to be honest. It’s really critical for us,” Berube said.

Meeting attendees, many of them Shelton farmers, pointed out that CitySeed is a much larger operation than their Market, and more management could create an unnecessary bureaucracy.

“We’re a very tight group of people that have been together many years,” said Jenelle Beardsley.

Conservation agent Teresa Gallagher explained that a sub-committee in Shelton "would consist of more or less the same farmers who are now running things, with a few additional farmers and Shelton consumers. They would continue to make their own rules and run their own market, but the committee itself, as an official public committee, would then be subject to Freedom Of Information (FOI) requirements."

Harbinson assured that any changes, including a liaison with CitySeed, are meant to expand options and services to farmers, not limit vendors or consumers.

Bob Mingrone, also a Market member, said that while he found CitySeed’s ideas interesting, “Shelton has a different demographic than New Haven. We’ve tried a winter market before and the interest just wasn’t there. When it's cold and snowing, people aren’t thinking of buying produce.”

While both Berube and Monahan agreed that there is no one-size fits all system, they have seen CitySeed be a profitable venture for farmers.

“By being at the CitySeed farmers markets with the customers and with the other farmers who all produce what they’re selling there, we’ve seen our farm grow in the last eight years,” Monahan said of Stone Gardens.

She added that an educational factor has grown along with the farms. Some vendors have had a business boom to the point where they can hire employees, interns and apprentices to learn about agriculture, which will ensure a strong future for the farming business.

Guy Beardsley and Harbinson thanked Berube for her comments, and the Commission tabled further discussion of the issue until the Farmers Market’s next meeting on November 15 at 7 p.m. in the pavilion at the Riverwalk.

“We will at that time have rules and vendor qualifications lined up,” Beardsley said. The Commission can then present Mayor Mark Lauretti with a recommendation for how the Shelton Farmers Market might proceed.