It’s early Saturday morning around 6 a.m., vendors have traveled from all over Southwest Virginia and beyond to sell their products at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. Within the Blacksburg Market Square Park, one can buy meat, eggs, bread, coffee, beauty products, apparel, jewelry and much more. Though each vendor sells their own unique products, they all come together with the same purpose; to provide for the local community and encourage sustainable living.
“I love feeding people really good, healthy food, I think it makes me feel really good to provide something that everybody needs more of. Everybody needs to eat more vegetables and people feel healthy when they eat good. I think that’s the other good social part about produce farming that really excites me, getting a lot of quality food out to our local community,” Tiffany Thompson said about selling locally.
Vendors
Luke and Cassie Brugh own and operate a local coffee lab in Christiansburg. They are involved in the Blacksburg Farmers Market and believe the depth of community at the market adds to the experience.
“If you go to Kroger you don’t get to see who made the product or who grew the product or build that relationship and you don’t get to provide that feedback,” Brugh said.
“We started working there because it is the biggest farmers market in the area, it’s really cool, there’s a lot of different vendors from a lot of different places,” Brugh said.
Luke said that the farmers market holds a really cool sense of community, all of the vendors work together and help each other out. Buying local coffee all goes back to the sense of community, that’s what is unique about farmers markets and local businesses. The relationships built between vendors is extremely special. Not only do people get to learn about other businesses but also about the personal lives of the people around them.
Customer Testimonials
The community aspect of the Blacksburg Farmers Market is something that becomes even more apparent when speaking with the customers that love it and help it to flourish. Apart from long-time Blacksburg residents, locals and families, students also cherish the sweet community that the market offers. An escape from the hustle and bustle of college life, the farmers market acts as a haven for Virginia Tech students.
Sophomores Lindsey Flanagan, Brandon Vellozzi and Rachael Rueb are loyal Blacksburg Farmers Market customers. The weekly tradition of the farmers market is a huge part of why Blacksburg truly does feel like home to them. Though they all love it for different reasons, and they have different favorite vendors, they can all agree that the community is what keeps them coming back. Check out the video below to hear more about why they love the Blacksburg Famers Market.
Community of the Market 