This year’s market promises to be the largest ever, he said – echoing the increase in strength of farmer’s markets statewide.
He said the market is open an extra hour longer this year – every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. until Nov. 3 – and lines the sidewalks around the Butler County Courthouse with more than 30 vendor booths.
The farmer’s market is sponsored by Historic Hamilton Inc.The group took on the farmer’s market project about 6 or 7 years ago, said President Karen Whalen.
In addition to donations, the market will also receive advertising and promotion funds from the membership group Friends of the Market, new this year, Whalen said.
It features several changes. Hall said there’s been an increase in consistent vendors after amendments to the registration process, children’s activities and live entertainment at the market once a month.
This has made the market a family-friendly atmosphere with a large selection of produce, he said.
“It’s a really good, eclectic variety of farmers and gardeners from all walks of life,” Hall said.
Ohio has seen a significant rise in the number of farmers markets in recent years, said Lori Panda of Ohio Proud, a part of the Ohio Department of Agriculture which promotes buying Ohio-grown products.
“It used to be where you might have one or two in a county, but now you have almost one on every corner of the community,” Panda said. “Consumers are realizing, too, that they’re supporting the local economy.”
The city of Hamilton said it grants the space around the courthouse to the market each year but keeps no reports of its economic impact.
Dennis Bowling, 83, has been attending the farmer’s market in Hamilton since 1945, when he would accompany his parents and sell the family’s live chickens from the back of a truck.
Now, following Bowling and his father, the family is in its third generation of sellers at the market with Bowling’s daughter, Nancy Greene.
“It’s a way of staying fit, keeping in shape, keeping my mind sharp,” Bowling said. “I know it’s pure, that it’s wholesome, tasty food.”
Contact this reporter at (513)483-5236 or beena.raghavendran@coxinc.com.
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