When I asked Brad what time my daughter Zoe and I should meet him in the morning to shadow his WHOLE day as Market Manager for the Tanana Valley Farmers Market, I was expecting something like 8am. The market runs 9-4 on Saturdays (11-4 on Wednesdays). We drove up from Anchorage to see what it takes to run a market in Brad’s shoes and to behold the longest-standing market in the state (celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023). His answer- 4:45am. At least that’s when his market day starts. He and his wife Christine also run Goosefoot Farm, and as farmer, market manager, and AFMA Board President, Brad’s days living and breathing support for agriculture in Alaska are full!
We settled on a 7am arrival at the market for Zoe (age 9) and me. She and I both wondered what would keep Brad busy for two hours before opening bell, and we soon learned- lots of morning greetings, tent stall assignments, helping unload trailers, final clean-up of the market grounds, and more. One way the market stays equitable and fills in holes if not every vendor makes it every time, is to hand out spots on a first-come, first-serve basis. The first farmers were lined up by 6am, and some drove from as far as Delta Junction (2hrs away) to be there. Brad greeted everyone by name, dished out lots of good mornings, listened as a farmer shared that her morning started with a fox in the chicken coop, and offered warnings about potential high wind in the afternoon. It was expected to be a hot day- reaching 80 degrees by afternoon- so there were reminders of weights to hold down tents and water to keep hydrated.
Opening bell rang at 9am, and Zoe and I were the proud owners of the customer count (thanks Brad for knowing that a kid volunteer loves a clipboard). Every hour on the hour, we spent the first 20-minutes with our clicker at the market entrance. It gave us a great sense of who came, how they got there (the bike rack stayed full most of the day and the parking lot had a slow line of people waiting to park), and how many people came- final count 3,920. There were nearly 90 vendors (which Brad called a relatively small Saturday for July- but the Tanana Valley state fair was going on down the road), and beautiful stands bursting with produce, baked goods (the croissant line stayed full all morning), and lots of friends connecting and sharing the day together. We counted 53 people at the market before the bell rang, and we hit 100 at 9:07am.
Zoe and I enjoyed asking customers having a particularly good time if we could take their picture- including the proud toddler with a “candycane shaped” cucumber, a bike basket full of veggies, and a firefighter stopping off for a bouquet of flowers. In between our counting sessions (we gave ourselves 37-minutes each hour), we spent time at the Goosefoot Farm with Farmer Christine, at the SNAP tent with Assistant Market Manager Ellen, watching the artists create as a way to pass their market time, and of course shopping. Keeping up with Brad was a fun challenge. His step count reaches up to 15 miles of walking circles around the market per day. But his bright red shirt, yellow sweeper, and joyful laugh make him not hard to find.
I loved seeing the SNAP Market Match program in action- wooden tokens handed out to double up to $40 per SNAP customer per market day. When asking farmers what was going well and what was not, I learned that the app needed for farmers to accept WIC this year is a particular challenge (hopefully something AFMA can help ease), and that the end of the federal LFPA program (Local Food Assistance Program) is a real loss. LFPA bought produce at the end of market day for donation to local food banks and is something AFMA is working to raise funds to replace. The way it worked at Tanana Valley Farmers Market is that farmers managed the donations themselves and reported the information to Brad (with the cold storage to take home remaining food and donate it to local anti-hunger organizations they know directly). At other AFMA supported markets, the market manager gathered up produce and made the donation on behalf of farmers- another lesson for me in how Alaska markets don’t need a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and that time during the off-season for market managers to share ideas is a valuable part of an association for farmers markets.
Zoe’s market highlight (I assumed it would be the rolled ice cream I let her get) was the fresh strawberries. And also the painted rocks led by the “Sprout the market snake” rock down a winding path of rocks the artist who paints them helped kids create. A highlight for me was a photo of Zoe and Brad’s son, Silas, holding AFMA’s new ‘Don’t Buy Food From Strangers’ bumper sticker under the farmers market sign and imagining what their generation will bring to the energy of local food and community connection for Alaska (hopefully a 100th anniversary for the Tanana Valley Farmers Market!). Another highlight for me- overhearing market-goers using their AFMA Statewide Alaska Farmers Market Guide to plan a road trip to see as many markets as possible in Alaska this summer.
By 2pm, Brad was doing his afternoon rounds to check-in with each of his 90 vendors. By 3pm, Zoe and I were doing our final customer count. And by 4pm, it was time to open the ‘assessments box’ and tally market proceeds for the day. When the vendor envelope numbers matched what was in the register to the penny, Brad and his board members gave a leaping high-five. Zoe, now drooped over the porch railing awaiting an afternoon swim, gathered up her treasures- bundles of produce, a painted rock, a carved wooden magnet, a corn plant she named Susie (and held carefully in her lap the whole drive home to Anchorage), and a caricature of Brad made into a sticker by the vendor Blobify (my first time having a boss so beloved his likeness has been made into a blob character sticker). Ten hours after we arrived at the market, Zoe and I pulled away. We tried to stay until the last minute Brad was there, but he had one more round to do- bringing in trash cans, removing a wasp’s nest from a vendor’s tent, and giving everything a last check before doing it all over again on Wednesday.
So…as asked during my time at AFMA promoting farmers markets across Alaska…do I think the job of a Farmers Market Manager in Alaska should be a paid role- absolutely!! 110%, 1010%, and I would love to make it part of my job to figure out how more markets can operate the way Tanana Valley Farmers Market does- paid staff, secure market space, involved board, lots of customers making it to market days, equity programs, and vendors showing up week after week to do the work of nourishing their community together.
Thanks Brad, Ellen, Christine, Sprout (the painted rock), Susie (the corn plant), and everyone who made our market day special. Here’s to a great season for you all!