Farmingville Farmers Market Closes Down

After attempting to bring a profitable farmers market to the area, the Farmingville Residents Association has decided to close down its market due to a weak showing of vendors and, consequently, customer flow.

Alexis Grasso, the association's farmer's market manager and chairperson put out a letter announcing its decision on the FRA website.

"Two & a half years ago, a large group of Farmingville residents, along with the support of the Town of Brookhaven and Sustainable Long Island, participated in a weekend process of re-visioning the future of Farmingville.  Among the dreams we had for this community was a weekly farmers market in our downtown.  Unbeknownst to us, many LI communities were dreaming the same dream!  The farmers market movement has exploded, with more markets than farmers to supply them.  We wondered why, with a great site and no stall-fee, we had to work so hard to attract any farmers at all–or to keep them for the season.  We now understand that, with so many markets to choose from, farmers feel they must choose established, profitable markets:  the field is saturated and cannot support more markets.  Good for the farmers and local food movement; bad for us.  We have to bend to reality and say “uncle!” We have decided to stop trying to swim against the current:  the Farmingville Farmers Market is over.  There is no blame to the farmers/the community/the Team that created this market, including our Cornell Cooperative Extension Sponsor, Susan Wilk.  By the way, you should know the outstanding volunteers who worked hard and reliably, above the call of duty and for the sake of Farmingville:  our F.R.A. Board, Marisa Pizza, Mike Underhill and Jim Stratford; Susie Bogden-Sweeney; the Hobbs Farm Team, Jen Ross, AnnMarie Horn, Pam Salamone [and the kids:  Anna, Abbie, Anthony, Ryan]; me and my volunteers, Dawn K., Edie H. and Pamela I.   You are my heroes and make Farmingville a sweet community.  Thank you."

In an email to Patch, FRA Director of Membership Marisa Pizza said the organization might consider opening again in the future if circumstances were better.

"We were hoping since our town was built on an agrarian society (hence- Farmingville), that that would work to our advantage, but with well-established larger markets in nearby vicinities, we simply could not sustain a large enough vendor turnout, which, in turn, affected our customer flow," Pizza stated.