WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
The City of Bloomington is suspending the Bloomington Community Farmers’ market for the next two Saturdays.
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton announced Monday the market will be closed August 3rd and 10th in response to escalating tensions over the presence of Schooner Creek Farms, a vendor with alleged ties to white nationalist groups. The Tuesday market will continue running at Sixth and Madison Streets from 4 to 7 p.m. as usual.
In a press conference at City Hall Wednesday morning, Hamilton said the decision to suspend the Saturday market was a “very painful” one, “but necessary to protect public safety.” When the market reopens in two weeks, Hamilton said there will be an increase in programming and staff presence, but did not give specifics.
Addressing a full house, Hamilton emphasized the community’s response moving forward. Attendance at the Saturday market in recent weeks has declined by about 50 percent, he said. “The city government will play our role, but recovery will absolutely depend on the community embracing the market… in order for it to thrive,” he said.
The move comes after the arrest of Cara Caddoo at the market on July 27. According to reports by WFIU, Caddoo, an Indiana University professor, held a sign and paced in front of the Schooner Creek booth, saying that she had been harassed by owners Sarah Dye and Doug Mackey, whose alleged ties to white nationalist groups sparked controversy this summer. In a statement from the BPD, staff from the Parks and Recreation Department and police officers asked her to relocate, citing farmers’ market rules that signage is permitted only in designated areas. After denying their requests to move, the BPD took Caddoo into custody. She was taken to the Monroe County Jail for the charge of Criminal Trespass, a class A misdemeanor, according to the BPD.
At this week’s Tuesday farmers’ market, reactions to suspend the market were mixed.
Smaller vendors, like Jim Lewis of Old Post Gardens, say the Tuesday market will be sufficient to maintain sales during the suspension. Others, like Anna Mae Stohl of Rising Moon Acres, say the suspension of the Saturday market will mean a significant loss of revenue. “The Saturday market is our main income for the summer. So it’s pretty major,” she said. Stohl says her farm unloads about three times as much produce on Saturdays as it does on Tuesdays.
Chelssie McKinney from Barnhouse Farms says the move to suspend the market is a necessary, if frustrating, one. “I think it’s warranted, given the safety concern. I also think, probably, if the situation had been dealt with a little more quickly–because vendors have been expressing concerns about safety for quite a while. So I’m not really surprised it’s gone this way. Could’ve been prevented, I think,” said McKinney.
Some vendors are seeking alternative locations for the next two weeks. Hamilton urged community members to support the farmers, many of whom have lost crops to severe weather, in those alternative spaces. “When we reopen the market it will be because our community embraced the market as something we believe in, and will not let go,” he said. The Herald Times plans to publish a list of those vendors and locations. A full list of vendors can be found on the city’s website.
