Southwest Farmers Market debuts

There’s a new farmers market in town… sort of. 

The Southwest Farmers Market will be held Saturdays in the parking lot of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church at 50th Street and Knox Avenue S., starting May 17. It will replace the Fulton Farmers Market, which had formerly been held at Lake Harriet United Methodist Church at 4901 Chowen Avenue S. 

In its announcement, Neighborhood Roots, the nonprofit organization that operates the Southwest, Kingfield, and Nokomis farmers markets, said challenges with visibility and attendance prompted the decision to rebrand and relocate. 

“[The Fulton Farmers Market] was really tucked away and hard to see in the church parking lot,” said Neighborhood Roots development manager Mara Wack. “It was just not as visible a lot of people didn’t know about it. It was harder to get new vendors.” 

There are a lot of farmers markets in the Twin Cities, particularly on Saturdays. If a vendor is not doing well at a particular market, they are going to try to sell somewhere else, said Wack. 

“Customers, they want a lot of vendors,” she said. “They don’t want to show up to a market that only has a handful of vendors and they want more consistency. We knew if we wanted to grow and expand and make it a viable market for vendors to sell at, we had to make a change.” 

The Southwest Farmers Market will have double the footprint of the Fulton market, according to Wack. As of publication, there are 29 participating vendors, seven of which will carry the seasonal produce and other agricultural products that draw customers to farmers markets in the first place. The rest will sell a mix of bakery items, canned goods like jams and salsa, homemade products like soap and candles, and prepared foods. 

As with all the markets Neighborhood Roots coordinates, there will also be live music and family-friendly activities. 

“We want people that come and make an event and have something to eat and hang out,” Wack said. 

Another big difference with the new Southwest Farmers Market is that it caters to more southwest Minneapolis neighborhoods, said Wack. 

“Before we would primarily just work with the Fulton Neighborhood Association, but now there’s Windom, Lynnhurst, Kenny and Tangletown,” she said. “Just inviting everyone out to really let their neighbors know that this is a new market and we’re here.” 

With the burgeoning global trade war affecting food prices, Wack believes more people will be looking to farmers markets this season for some of their weekly shopping. 

“I think more people are looking to shop local. When our food has to travel so far, that really affects the pricing.” she said. “A lot of people thought farmers markets were more expensive. I think this is going to be a shift where we’re seeing people come out to get more of a deal.”