Grafton Common to host weekly Farmers Market

Michael Urban, the organizer of the Grafton Farmers Market PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Region - The historic Grafton Common will soon be home to a new farmers market that will feature only local farm products and will be run weekly throughout the summer season.

    The Grafton Farmers Market will start its first season Thursday July 9 at the Common in the center of Grafton and will be open each Thursday, 2 to 6:30 p.m. (or until dusk) through Oct. 22.

    Grafton resident Michael Urban thought up the idea to create a local farmers market selling only locally grown produce when he realized that there were none in the area.

    “Our objective is to support local farmers, educate the community on healthy food choices, and have fun,” Urban said.

    Urban said farmers will come from Westborough, Millbury, Sutton, Sterling and Grafton, and he hopes to attract customers from around the region, as well. Nourse Farm in Westborough, owned by John Nourse, is one of the principle vendors contributing to the Farmers Market.

    “We’re really excited about the Grafton [Farmers] Market getting started,” Nourse said. “It’s great because it’s so close to us and we have a customer base in Grafton already.”

    Other area vendors include Mapel Plants, Paul’s Center Bakery and Diner, and Sweetbriar Perennials.

    “Not only is it an opportunity to sell directly but you’re also doing some public relations work to help build your own base back at the farm store,” Nourse said.

    “From our perspective it’s important to have good farm stands from around the area to have good anchor farms that are going to bring good stuff that will let us build momentum,” Urban said.

    Farmers markets are a growing trend throughout the state. Urban described one statistic that, if nothing else, further compelled him to create the Grafton Farmers Market.

    “The average piece of food travels 1,500 miles from source to destination to the American consumer,” Urban said. “Nourse Farm is a few miles away, Houlden Farms is about two miles away from us, and in other cases you have food traveling across the country, waiting in trucks, then you factor in the fuel expenses. It’s not going to be a fresh strawberry.”

    Eating healthier foods that are grown locally often taste better and that’s the idea behind how the market plans to educate the public about healthier eating habits.

    “The whole concept of food is that humans have taste buds and we all want food to taste great and your food that’s shipped 3,000 miles is bred to be shippable but it’s not going to have a lot of flavor,” Nourse said. “Your local growers are growing the better varieties and your food’s going to taste better.”

    Introducing children to tastier and healthier foods when they’re young is something Nourse believes will help curb the obesity problem the country’s youth faces.

    Urban is on the Grafton Land Trust Board and is working not only to help create a vibrant farmers market; he also hopes to preserve the open space farmers need and to ensure it won’t turn into housing complexes.

    The market will also host several themed-days. Expected events include a history day featuring the Nipmuc Nation, a family day and land preservation days, all of which are helping nonprofit groups through fund-raising.

    If this season is a success, Urban hopes to make the market a summertime event every year.