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SAVANNAH, Ga. () — National Farmers Market Day drew a crowd of hundreds of people to Forsyth Park on Saturday.
“The freshness is pretty unrivaled like you know where the stuff is coming from and it’s all really locally sourced very recently so that’s worth it—especially for a special meal,” said shopper Wesley Jameson.
Shop owner Ryan O’Reilly told News 3 that, ironically, the special day falls during one of the worst times for South Georgia produce.
“In the middle of summer pretty much all you’ve got going is eggplants and peppers,” said O’Reilly. “Tomatoes are done now and it’s a little early for the fall stuff so you don’t really have a lot going this time of year in the south when it’s this hot.”
Vendors told they do the best business at the Forsyth Market. Christian Schmoe of Schmoe Farms said they see more business when the price of grocery staples rise.
“They think if they’re going to spend that much on eggs in the store they might as well come to the farmer and get better eggs, so we did see a lot of that happening,” said Schmoe.
He also said most of his customers want to be conscious about what they’re eating and know where it comes from. For that, he says they’re willing to shell out a few extra bucks.
“It’s based upon our feed, our labor. It’s not based upon some arbitrary price that some corporation wants to charge so it’s very personal, our pricing versus what you might find in the grocery store.”
The market is open year-round. Vendors say the autumn harvest is just weeks away.