Image: via Grace Powell
It’s hard to miss the crowd surrounding the lot on 201 N. Church St. as tables full of fresh produce, jams and a myriad of other goods line the corner of Church and Chestnut streets. Despite a cold winter breeze, the market welcomes a warmth to the West Chester community, as vendors greet customers and offer up their expertise on their selections.
There is something rather enticing and special about an outdoor market that still attracts a crowd in almost freezing temperatures. While the West Chester Growers Market has an abbreviated schedule throughout the winter months, starting in May the market will be in full swing once again, open every Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
While approaching the line of vendors with their products meticulously displayed in each of their own unique fashions, visitors are almost immediately greeted and offered samples and insight into how the goods were made. The shopping experience is very personalized, as the vendors have each had a hand in making the products laid out before them. Everything is made with the customer in mind, meaning organic foods, recycled packaging and fresh, flavorful foods.
The vendors themselves embody the friendly atmosphere the market creates. From each interaction, it’s obvious that they take pride in what they do, enjoy sharing their stories and answering questions about their products. One vendor in particular, Jillian Maher, is extremely passionate in her craft. She is the owner of Properly Pressed, a cold-press juicing business, and has developed her craft from overcoming personal hardships with her health.
She has been a vendor with the West Chester Growers Market for about six months and selectively sources the produce used for the juices. “We are just looking for the most nutritionally dense produce that truly is farmed…our goal is to always get fresh produce and seasonal produce, that way it’s the most ripe and tastes the best,” Maher said. She began making these juices about five years ago due to having a lot of health complications, including an undiagnosed swelling on her right side. “The only thing that seemed to keep it at bay was when I ingested fresh, cold-pressed green juice,” she said.
At the time, Maher did not understand why adding this into her diet helped her health. However, after consulting with a neuroscientist and having an environmental pathogen blood test, she discovered she had black mold poisoning. “That’s why cold-pressed juice was so beneficial, because it was attacking the bacterial infection I had,” explained Maher. She began making cold-pressed juices herself for her own personal use, as well as for her other friends and coworkers. Maher then decided to sell the juices publicly after she realized they were in such high demand among her peers.
Small growers’ markets like these allow for transparency between the vendor and consumer. This aspect is crucial for the consumer to understand what effects their diets have on their health and wellbeing. Shopping locally at markets such as these gives customers direct access to products without any of the extensive processing used to lengthen shelf life in larger-scale grocery stores. Shopping locally at the West Chester Growers Market offers its own experience, a community and fresh, flavorful foods made with the people they are serving in mind.
Grace Powell is a second-year Media and Culture major with a minor in Law, Politics and Society, gp1019074@wcupa.edu