Farmer’s market is great addition

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Healthy tummies rejoiced a bit Saturday when the Alcorn State Extension Service’s Farmer’s Market reopened.

The market closed last year when it lost its space at the former Main Street Marketplace, which closed.

The new market location isn’t supposed to be a permanent one either, but ASU simply wanted to be able to open this season and settled for what they could find.

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The new location — 199 St. Catherine St. — may not seem ideal to some people. It’s not very centrally located to customers; it’s not downtown; its location has seen better days; it’s not exactly where most folks envision buying veggies.

But the farmer’s market could sprout a few roots in its new home, and get things growing for the better.

The site is near the Forks of the Road, a location that will hopefully continue to draw more tourists and attention.

With two good neighborhood partners, St. Catherine Street could use the coming year to begin a revitalization of sorts.

The area is, after all, a major entryway into our city’s historic downtown.

Regardless of what the future may hold for the neighborhood, we are happy to see fresh tomatoes, squash and beans for sale again in Natchez.

The program provides a vital supply of affordable, healthy foods to many area senior citizens, in addition to good eats for the rest of us and sales for area farmers.