SVRC Marketplace farmer feature

Saginaw farmers keep local produce, knowledge growing

By Grace McCarthy

SAGINAW, Mich. — For the farmers at the Downtown Saginaw Farmers’ Market, the production of selling produce is more than putting fruits and vegetables on a table. It is the chance to show customers where food comes from other than a grocery store. This is about passing down knowledge of generation farmers onto younger people. 

This farmers market operates from the Saginaw Valley Rehabilitation Center (SVRC) Marketplace pavilion, on 203 S. Washington Ave. The Marketplace opened its downtown location in Saginaw in 2018 inside their historic Saginaw News building. 

For James King, selling produce and farming has been a part of his life and family for many, many years.

King personally has said he’s been coming to this market to sell for about three years, but members of his family have sold at earlier versions of the Saginaw’s farmers market before he was even born.

”We’ve been coming around here a long time,” King said.

King has been brought up in family farming since he was a young boy. He continues to show up for the market because it gives him a place to enjoy what he sells and grows.

”You have to go where the market is,” King said.

But King said one of the hardships people overlook, partially the younger generations, is that they misunderstand where their food actually comes from.

”It originates from some farmer in some way,” King said. “That’s what they need to understand.”

That connection with farmers and our younger consumers have reigned true for a longtime said market vendor Matt Harrell.

Harrell said he’s been selling at the Saginaw’s farmers market for 27 years. Over the span of time, he has seen the process of word of mouth, regular customers and social media help bring forth local vendors and our community.

”Customers definitely letting other customers know is always a help,” Harrell said. “Social media is a help. And just the people who continue to show here, I think, is always a great thing.”

For Harrell, the growth of producing and selling his own product also gives him a sense of control over what he sells to the community. 

“I think it’s one of the best things to do because it’s all stuff that you can back and guarantee yourself,” Harrell said.

Harrell said farmers can take a stand behind the quality of their produce and address problems head on when a product of theirs doesn’t meet expectations.

He also believes our younger generation needs more education on farming, and how seasonal produce is being made and what can be grown locally.

”The biggest thing is, I think, that there needs to be a whole lot of schooling and teaching,” Harrell said.

That includes being aware when different fruits and vegetables are truly in season. Harrell used blueberries as an example, explaining that this is an earlier season crop which is not available locally throughout the year.

”A lot of people have their own abilities to grow things, maybe not in the amounts that we do as farmers,” Harrell said.

He said letting that knowledge be shared with children and young adults is extremely important because they are the ones responsible for carrying these teachings forward.

”They are the next generation,” Harrell said. “They are the next branch on the tree.”

Farmers are also having to deal with the higher costs behind the scenes.

Harrell said with this increase it has cost more in the price for seeds, supplies and farming expenses which have been affecting farmers over the many years. With the high cost this creates difficulty in explaining to customers who remember paying less for produce in the past.

”There’s not a 59-cent cheeseburger anymore at McDonald’s,” Harrell said. “So the fact that a watermelon does cost five, six dollars, things like that here, the price of corn has gone up. It’s mostly been because of the other stuff.”

Despite all the changes, both of these farmers have emphasized an idea that should remain simple: Food begins far beyond a grocery store shelf.

For King, passing down teachings to the younger generations to understand these processes will soon recognize the farmers are the ones we should be thanking.

”That’s what they need to understand,” King said.