Syracuse’s Downtown Farmers Market is spicing things up with unique booths from different local businesses in the area.
Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – The breezy fall weather still allows a little time for people to attend Syracuse’s Downtown Farmers Market. From June 11 to Oct. 8, the market sells fresh fruits and vegetables, plants, baked goods and more.
Clinton Square’s weekly market not only features dozens of local farmers’ produce, but local businesses in the area have set up booths as well to connect with the community.
For visitors who decide to bring their dogs to the farmers market, there is a booth where all dog parents can shop for their pets. Carm’s Dog House is a daycare, grooming and boarding facility for pets. At their booth, they sell homemade dog cookies, biscuits and treats, as well as dog leashes and toys. Customers can even call and order a customized birthday cake from their “Barkery.”
“It’s really popular, you get to pick your own flavored cake, frosting, the colors you want and if you want something to say on it,” Gabbie Larson, a baker with Carm’s Dog House, said.
The farmers market is a perfect place for Carm’s Dog House to advertise its new location, which will open downtown in a couple of months.
“A lot of people stop by and grab some business cards. A lot of people didn’t know that we existed,” Larson said with a laugh.
Local businesses also take the opportunity to recruit volunteers at the farmers market. Keely Terrillion, Recruitment Specialist for the Upstate Global Health Institute, talked with visitors about the kind of work that they do. This was the Institute’s first season at the market, allowing Terrillion to share what clinical trials the institute does with infectious diseases such as Lyme diseases and dengue fever, as well as the development of COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
“Our goal is to kind of look for healthy volunteers. Also, kind of get our name out there with who we are, what we do, and just kind of [bring] awareness because a lot of people aren’t aware of all of these infectious diseases that not only affect us, but military families and people not from around here,” Terrillion said.
A popular booth that brings regulars down to the farmers market every week is the Food Bank of Central New York. It’s not a conventional booth. The Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables presentation teaches customers how to sustainably eat and prepare healthy food. The presentation also includes a cooking demonstration of recipes that program volunteers make with produce that people can buy at the farmer’s market.
“We are really aiming to bring different experiences to people. Healing relationships with our food, understanding what we eat, and what to do with it a little bit. We just try to expand some of our basic skills and try to learn something new, cause we could always learn something new,” Alex Hansson, a presenter with Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables, said.
Some businesses have aligned their products with what farmers’ booths are selling. The Onondaga County Public Libraries has different handouts including recipe cards, online resources, book suggestions and the most popular, a collector’s button in conjunction with the market’s produce item of the week. Tabling for about six years, the libraries’ position at the farmer’s market is not only about what they have to offer but what they can do for other local businesses.
“We want to support local businesses, so it’s kind of buy local, support local and we are local,” Maggie Foster, Outreach Coordinator for the Onondaga County Public Libraries, said. “…And inspiring other people and incentivizing other people to come and visit the market when they normally wouldn’t come down here to buy something.”