Market Central, a non-profit created by vendors and patrons of the weekly farmers' market downtown, helped these same growers host market customers at 19 local farms around the area Monday.
As part of Market Central's 2011 "Meet Yer Eats!" Farm Tour, farmers opened their doors to market regulars, families, students and Charlottesville residents to see the working farms and farmers who live near the City.
Event programs included guided tours of greenhouses, meet and greets with farm animals, and seminars on topics such as incorporating culinary and medicinal herbs into daily life. Most growers opened farm stores for customers to support the growers as local businesses.
Farmers chose to participate in the event to give customers a chance to see the benefits, realities and challenges of local farms.
"[The tour] accomplished a lot of things on a few different levels: It was profitable for us as a business and farm, and secondly it was nice to host our customers and let them see what we do everyday," said Gail Hobbs-Page, of Caromont Farm in Estmont, Va. "They typically see us at the farmer's market or store, but it gave us a chance to put people and places together to make a stronger connection, which is always a good thing. Also, it gave people a chance to see what we do - it's an eye-opener sometimes. It was a very good day."
Tom Martin, from Poindexter Farm in Louisa, Va., said he enjoyed the mixture of customers from both the Charlottesville City Market and several individuals potentially interested in developing local farms as well.
"There's nothing better than when people come out and see where the food comes from and see what's involved in it," he said.
Bill Jones, regular sausage vendor at the farmers' market and co-owner of Dilwyn, Va. pig farm Babes in the Woods, appreciated the opportunity to show the farm's methods.
"We wanted as many people as possible to see how we raise the pigs," he said.
"The tour was absolutely spot-on this year," Hobbs-Page said. "It was well-publicized, organized and went well. I hope we keep doing it every year because it's a great thing for our community"
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