Provo Farmers Market invites customers to shop locally

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A wide variety of vendors gathered at Provo’s Pioneer Park to sell their local products and inaugurate the summer season with Provo Farmers Market on June 4.

The Provo Farmers Market is a family-friendly event, with a splash pad located in the center of the park for kids to cool off on warm summer days. There is often live music with an acoustic guitar or violin.

The market runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from June 4 to October 29 and is home to farmers of local produce, bakers, florists, artists and more.

Visitors can expect to be met with an ample selection of both food and art, and enjoy a refreshing frozen lemonade on a hot Saturday afternoon, grab a fresh loaf of sourdough bread to take home or browse through hundreds of unique rings and necklaces.

According to vendors, what makes the Provo Farmers Market unique is the friendly community of people who come together every weekend, as both customers and vendors are eager to discuss the products.

“This market has a big variety of clientele that comes,” said Janet Taylor from Farm Yard Fresh, an urban farm in Santaquin. “We have our regular customers who grocery shop when they come to farmers markets, but at this market you also have a lot of students and people who are just coming out for fun on Saturday.”

Molly Payne’s family owns Foothill Farm Flowers, a flower farm located at the base of the canyon in Provo. They sell their flowers to florists, offer subscriptions and sell bouquets at Waffle Love in The Shops at Riverwoods. They are also at the Provo Farmers Market every Saturday, which Payne explained is unique because of the direct connection she has with their customers. “I just love interacting with them,” Payne said.

Since Utah lessened COVID-19 restrictions earlier this year, the Provo Farmers Market has experienced a dramatic boost in the amount of customers according to vendors. “We feel like we can connect more with our customers,” Payne said. “It’s gotten a lot busier, which has been great.”

While most booths offer produce, treats and other food items, there are also local artists who sell paintings, jewelry, clothing items and many more original pieces of art.

Manon Tracy, who operates a booth showcasing drawings of animals with her business Manon Del Art, does all the artwork herself and sells prints, keychains and stickers.

With inflation becoming a bigger obstacle for small business owners, they have had to increase their prices to offset rising costs of materials.

Dan Jackman, a beekeeper who runs Cedar Valley Honey by selling wildflower honey he harvests locally, has been a vendor at the Provo Farmers Market for 10 years.

Jackman discussed how prices for some resources he uses have almost tripled as of lately.

“It’s hard to get packaging right now, anything that’s made with plastic and glass,” Jackman said. He added he has raised his prices by $0.50 this year to keep up with inflation.

Summer Pugh manages the booth for The Gingerbread Cottage, a business based in Draper which sells gourmet gingerbread cookies with intricate designs for every holiday and special occasion.

Pugh said she has noticed a similar trend.

“Flour has doubled, glasses for gingerbread have doubled anywhere from 20-50% more,” she said, and also explained that although she has a hard time increasing her prices, she still sees the effect of inflation with her business.

The Provo Farmers Market, which offers a weekly treat for all kinds of people in the Provo area, will continue running through the summer until October.

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