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Local move: Wednesday Decatur Farmers Market will move in 2014

Decatur

Local move: Wednesday Decatur Farmers Market will move in 2014

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Undated photo from the Decatur Farmers Market. Source: DFM Facebook page.

Undated photo from the Decatur Farmers Market. Source: DFM Facebook page.

There will be a change of venue for the Wednesday Decatur Farmers Market next year.

DFM will move from its usual Wednesday spot in the Bank of America parking lot and reopen at Decatur First Baptist Church, located on the corner of Clairemont and Commerce Dr.

The move will take place Jan. 15. Please note that the Saturday market will remain at the same location next to the high school on N. McDonough Street.

I reached out to Community Farmers Markets to ask about the reasons behind the move.  Market and Operations Coordinator Danielle L. San Filippo told me the farmers market wants more green space and needs more parking for customers.

“We are choosing to leave this space for several reasons,” Filippo told me via email. “First, part of our mission as an organization (CFM), and the mission of the Decatur Farmers Markets, is to provide access to fresh, local food in beautiful, clean and vibrant community spaces. Although Bank of America has been generous to let us use their parking lot on Wednesdays for many years, the space is neither beautiful nor vibrant. We would like to be in a location that allows families to picnic under trees and on soft grass, is safe for children and dogs to move around, is easy to access for the elderly, etc.

“Second, we would like to be in a space with more parking. As the Decatur market has grown over the past eight months since CFM took over management, we have basically run out of parking space for all 24 of our vendors and, more importantly, all of our loyal customers. The First Baptist Church offers generous amounts of parking that, again, allows for safer access to the market for families, pets and the elderly.

“Third, this is a mutually beneficial relationship for both organizations. The church would like to reach out to the sustainable, active and socially aware network of people who comprise the Decatur community and they believe that our market is an excellent opportunity to do so. While they offer many amenities that we are excited about (storage space, access to restrooms, shelter for rainy days), we offer a connection to a diverse group of the community. We also believe that both organizations will literally grow in numbers because of this partnership. We are both getting to meet people who might have otherwise never connected with one or the other organization.”

For Decatur Farmers Market hours and information about specific vendors, click here.

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