What's Great About Greenwood: Farmers Market



The Greenwood Farmer's Market takes place every Saturday from 8 a.m. till noon at Howard and Johnson Streets in historic downtown Greenwood.

The recent establishment of a farmers market is a progressive move by Main Street Greenwood, Turnrow Book Co., and the Viking Hospitality Group, among others, that will bring the community together. Located along the former Columbus and Greenville Railway at Johnson Street in downtown Greenwood, the Farmer's Market provides affordable access to healthy and sustainable food for all the citizens of Greenwood, regardless of socioeconomic status.

As a planning student, one of the many topics we discuss is equitable access to healthy food for low income and underpriviliged populations. Farmers markets bring locally grown and farm-raised food and produce to the people. Limited transportation options and a lack of education keeps these minority groups from quality produce that is readily available to the upper-middle class.

After all, many of the citizens of Greenwood don't own a vehicle that would allow them to shop at Greenwood Market Place on a regular basis. This limits those populations to fast foods and processed staples that are only available at the corner convenience store. The value of the location of Greenwood's farmers market within walking distance of Greenwood's lower income neighborhoods will be key to its success and should not be overlooked.

This past Saturday, the Greenwood Farmers Market opened its doors with enough success to build on. Hopefully as time goes on, more growers, volunteers and shoppers will attend the market and create an event that will be in itself self-sustaining. This will allow Greenwood to not only continue to provide its citizens with access to healthy food systems, but will provide jobs for small farmers across the region.

The Greenwood Farmers Market is just one example of what is great about Greenwood. The volunteer spirit and progressive thought of our community leaders has long been what has kept Greenwood from falling to the ill fate of so many other Delta towns. My praise goes out to these organizers for helping make Greenwood a great place to call home.

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