Yesterday, after over a year of planning, legal wrangling and negotiation between the school, the city and local farmers, Student Government Association (SGA) held their first farmers market on Centennial Commons.
Ashley Howard, the owner of Heavens Harvest Farms in New Braintree, was the only farmer to participate in the event. A combination of delays, bureaucracy and confusion led to the low turnout on the seller’s side.
The event had been held in limbo time and time again after bureaucratic hurdles forced repeated delays. The idea of a farmers market has been thrown around for over a year, with former SGA President Ryan Fox listing it as an anticipated program in a December 2009 interview with the Huntington News. Reaching out to farms in Greater Boston after an aborted attempt in the summer of 2010, SGA appeared ready to launch the program earlier this year, announcing a date and posting fliers.
Last-minute confusion about who should acquire city permits nearly derailed the project, with farmers believing Northeastern should have secured the requisite permits with the city, as those running farmers markets usually do. Meanwhile, Northeastern considered the farmers to be vendors, requiring them to seek their own separate sets of permits. It’s disappointing that Northeastern SGA was so disorganized as to continue erring in the creation of the market at least a year and a half after the idea’s inception.
As a result of the confusion, the first farmers market, originally scheduled for July 6, was delayed a week, and eventually was postponed to yesterday. Although Northeastern eventually acquired the usual permits for a farmers market, relieving farms of this responsibility, only Heavens Harvest attended the market.
For what it was, the market was a success; Howard and his farm made brisk sales to an eager Northeastern populace, and the higher-than-expected demand nearly cleaned out the farm’s stock. SGA hopes to have more farmers markets throughout the year extending into the fall semester, with the aim of providing more stands and more produce; they are currently in talks with several new farmers and vendors that could join Heavens Harvest as early as next week.
Northeastern erred in its initial approach to the farmers market, and in doing so may have dissuaded farmers from attending. Now that the event has proven itself successful, SGA should continue to operate and promote the market and Northeastern should reach out to farmers that previously declined invitations when they were expected to provide all permits. By bringing them back into the fold, Northeastern can have an event that can draw in members of the surrounding community and foster stronger neighborhood ties.
