Big Things Are Cooking at Bardstown Road Farmers' Market
Offering locally grown produce and artisanal goods to the residents of our community has been a main mission of the Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market since its beginning 28 years ago. This year, while it may not be quite so obvious to most regular market customers, we are working to expand our chef relationships by a coordinated offering of farm surpluses to chefs and restaurants for pickup at market. These wholesale offerings of surpluses to chefs are purposefully connected and designed to honor leadership in the food community around support of development of the local food system.
For Chef Kathy Cary, owner of Lilly’s Bistro, the opportunity to buy from the market offers more than local sourcing. “I really support this. It’s so wonderful to meet the farmers and build a relationship with them and my restaurant. I so appreciate the weekly availability descriptions and the opportunity to select from such a diverse list of products.”
And, it’s a win for the vendors at the market. “The board thought it was worth investing in staffing this additional sales opportunity,” says Todd Childers, board member of Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market and owner of Facing West Farm. “I think we all also thought supporting and developing our relationships with chefs was a good idea.”
The pilot effort to entice chefs to return to more robust involvement in local foods, or perhaps to become involved for the first time in local food, has already begun to show signs of success. Because this effort is as much about offering the infrastructure of markets as a support system for farmers, the market is excited to have helped Groce Family Farm, Parker’s Patch, Facing West Farm, Happy Jacks — and, yes, my own place, Field Day Family Farm — with sales that might never have happened otherwise. Of the many joys of being a farmer, one of the greatest is the camaraderie amongst producers, and the knowledge that on Saturday mornings my favorite people will be delivering some of the best food Kentucky and Indiana have to offer.
We’ve enjoyed serving not only Kathy Cary, but also personal Chef Nancy Schoenhoff, Chef Bruce Ucan of Mayan Café and Sherry Hurley of Farm to Fork Catering.
If you’re a chef, or if you know a chef who might be interested, please contact our great new market outreach coordinator, Annie Williams at brfm1722@gmail.com. If you’re one of our extraordinary Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market regulars, please take a moment to help us welcome all of our great new market vendors, including Well’s Made Nut Butters, Pure Pollen Flowers, Klaus Riedelsheimer’s pretzel breads, Valley Spirit Farm, Parker’s Patch, Faul Family Riverside Farm, and Lueboe Press. Thanks to everyone for their great and thoughtful support!
