Bustling, loud and colorful, the Lane County Farmers Market is like a Middle Eastern-style bazaar in the middle of Downtown Eugene. Here people from all walks of life peruse the nearly 60 booths, buying anything from blueberries to bonsai trees, hazelnuts to honey, lettuce to lavender, beeswax candles to beer.
Every Saturday from April through mid-November, LCFM boasts a wide variety of items grown, produced and crafted locally, which is what brings Lily Karabaic to the market.
“The average food in America has traveled 1,700 miles before people eat it,” she said. “At the farmers market, you know exactly how far that food has traveled.”
Karabaic pays for her groceries using food stamps, a form of payment accepted by LCFM.
“I only eat organic and I can’t afford to do that at the supermarket; I would run out of my food stamps halfway through the month,” she said.
Karabaic is one of many Oregonians who benefits from the Food Stamp Program. Last year, the program helped 434,000 people throughout the state, many of them college students, said LCFM Market Director Noa O’Hare.
“Most students qualify for a considerable amount of food stamps,” O’Hare said. “There’s quite a bit of eligibility, but many of them just don’t know.”
Food stamps, which switched to the debit card-like Oregon Trail Card format 10 years ago, can be used for meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, bread, cereal, pet food, household items, and seeds and plants to make edible food. And like Karabaic, many University and Lane Community College students use them at LCFM, particularly at the beginning of the month, as users typically receive their food stamps on the first of each month.
“Food is usually the marginal thing,” O’Hare said. “You can’t reduce your rent or insurance, but you can buy cheaper food, which is usually less nutritious.”
Similar to the Food Stamp Program is WIC, a federally-funded support program with two sub-categories: one for senior citizens, and one for pregnant or breastfeeding women and parents of children under five. WIC is also an acceptable form of payment at LCFM, through the Farm Direct Nutrition Program, which grants users vouchers to use for buying fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Those programs are specifically designed to introduce their users to the local food system and where to get fresh stuff because their budget limits make it difficult,” O’Hare said. “That effort is to teach people how to feed themselves, where to go to support the local agricultural economy, and how to invest in their health and the community.”
LCFM’s mission is to further the community’s health, while promoting Oregon’s fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, plants, and animal products, which is exactly why Jennifer Alvarado, who has a small daughter and another child on the way, uses her WIC vouchers on LCFM produce, rather than at the supermarket.
“It’s fresher and I like to keep the money in the economy by supporting local farmers,” she said.
To earn membership at LCFM, being local is crucial. While not all vendors actually come from Lane County, Oregon residence is one of the primary requirements, along with vendors growing, producing and crafting all of their items themselves.
Currently in its 29th consecutive season, LCFM has roots in the Eugene Produce Market, which opened in 1915, the first of its kind in the area. While the market closed with the rise of supermarkets in the late 1950s, it reopened in 1979 and has continued to expand.
Food stamps and WIC vouchers have been accepted at the market since 1984, when there were enough vendors that LCFM was able to receive the necessary permit from the United States Department of Agriculture.
“It’s wonderful for people to be able to come down and get stuff they might not normally be able to afford,” said Sophie Bello, who owns Groundwork Organics in Junction City with her husband and has a booth of vegetables, fruits and flowers at LCFM every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. “It’s a great thing to be able to participate in.”
From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., LCFM operates on 8th Avenue between Oak and Park Streets. In addition, LCFM has two smaller markets during the summer and early autumn: one on Tuesdays in the same location, and one on Thursdays at the Lane County Fairgrounds.