Market Value

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 1:39 a.m.

What: The Downtown Henderson Farmer's Market.

When: 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

Where: 200 S. Water St.

Information: Call 565-2323.

Looking for a little culture in this arid valley?

So were the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson.

And they found it, in fruit.

The Downtown Henderson Farmer's Market and the start-up Las Vegas Farmers Market in Summerlin have started a tasty trend and the community is eating it up.

The weekly markets sell state-certified produce from Utah, Colorado, California and Arizona and the farmers are enjoying the valley's hunger for the open-air festivals.

"We have everything under the sun available," said Michelle Romero, market manager and community development administrative assistant for the City of Henderson.

An array of tables and covered booths are nestled along Water Street each Thursday in downtown Henderson.

The smell of fresh bread wafts past young mothers who push toddlers in strollers, pieces of fresh-roasted buttered popcorn clenched in their little fists.

A Frisbee flies by the face-painting booth, and discarded ice cream melts in the grass on a barely warm spring day.

The Henderson market has brought a little heart to the Las Vegas suburb's oft-neglected downtown. "We've had a lot of fun out here and it's done a lot for revitalizing downtown (Henderson)," Romero said.

The city wanted to create a fun, varied atmosphere for families to enjoy outdoors and get to know their neighbors. "We also have all kinds of crafters, health foods, reflexologists, massages, face painters, balloons and clowns," Romero said.

The market marks its one-year anniversary April 15, and it's been quite a good harvest for the city. More than 5,000 people from around the valley, country and even around the world took a stroll along Water Street during its peak summer season last year.

"The farmers market was just the right thing for us," Romero said.

In the supermarket, a peach is just a peach. At the farmers' market the produce takes center stage, along with a bit of history.

"They like to come out and talk to the farmer," Bill Flother, Colorado farmer and co-founder of the Las Vegas market, said. "They can tell the day the peach was picked. They like to know the way that it was grown, if it's organic."

Flother's sister, Ginger Johnson, and her husband, Steve, joined forces with other local farmers and vendors to begin the the Las Vegas Farmer's Market modeled after Seattle's well-known Pike Place Market.

"We thought we needed that for Vegas," Ginger Johnson said.

The couple participated in the Henderson Farmer's Market and were implored by Las Vegans to open more. "People can come out and meet their neighbors and have fun and get fresh fruits and veggies," Ginger Johnson said.

The Johnsons spend time at each market talking to the independent vendors and customers. "It's your farmers market, we welcome all suggestions," she said.

The Las Vegas market plans to keep the Bruce Trent State park location open longer in the evening for those who work and to spice up the atmosphere with featured chefs and more art vendors to create a festival feel.

The Johnsons are also farming for new sites. "We are going great guns," she said. "We asked (the city) to do another market at Gowan (Road) and Rainbow (Boulevard) starting toward the end of April on Tuesdays."

The city agreed immediately.

"It's going great, better than we first expected," said Douglas Pitz, cultural activities specialist for the City of Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Department.

Pitz is pushing for more markets around the valley after having seen the popularity of the Summerlin market. "It's all the pencil pushing that gets it going," Pitz said. "But it's worth it to see these people interact, the different walks of life."

The city liked the market venue in particular for its sense of small town warmth. "It's the ability for (neighbors) to come out," Pitz said. "Interaction builds strength in a community."

Although they can bring a small town feel to a cultural Las Vegas event, the cities can't keep the Las Vegas feel out of the markets. "We are talking with the city to have valet for this particular location," Pitz said as cars inched past other illegally parked cars in the Bruce Trent Park's narrow asphalt lot on a recent afternoon.

Pondering produce

But this is a serious business for the produce vendors who must be cleared by the county before setting up at a market. The health department recently met to discuss market fees and look into regulations that would be more fair for market vendors, Romero said.

"They've never had a farmers market before this so they have nothing to govern it," Romero said.

The rules for the market are strict.

"We do not allow anything made out of people's homes," Romero said. "Any food that is sold at the market has to come from a licensed kitchen."

Food booth vendors must purchase a $65, temporary two-week permit from the Clark County Health Department. They must have a separate permit for each market making a total of $130 every two weeks if they attend both markets, which most vendors do to take advantage of the brisk business.

This can get costly for vendors because each market charges $30 a week to set up a booth. The trouble is monitoring the preparation of products, said Lon Epemy, environmental health supervisor for the Clark County Health Department.

"The only way our staff can know what is going on is to go in and inspect them," he said.

They are reviewing the laws so that farmers markets are less packaged in red tape.

Each state has guidelines for how food can be handled. If farmers are selling only raw food, i.e., fresh vegetables, and have certificates of origin from their states, they can bypass the temporary permit because they are approved and monitored by that state.

"We are trying to find a happy medium," Epemy said. "But we have to be careful ... Our job is to protect the public from contamination."

Regardless of all the paper work, the Henderson market's success has planted a seed and a new crop of markets are sprouting up around the valley. A Summerlin market and east Las Vegas market are scheduled to open next month and a few more are planned for summer.

Merry market

On a recent afternoon Siri Contreras displayed her homemade candles and blankets at the Summerlin market. It was her first time selling at a farmers market.

"It's a hobby, I enjoy it," she said. "I wanted to see what I could do out here."

Lindsay Bess drives in from Porterville, Calif. just outside Bakersfield, every Wednesday with crates of fresh pressed olive oil and marinated stuffed green olives.

"We grow everything ourselves, it's a family business," she said.

Bess started in the Henderson market when it opened last April. That was such a success that she signed up for Summerlin.

"The people are interesting to talk to, you meet them from all over," she said. "We had a guy from Michigan who took a case of olives back with him."

The diverse community and opportunities Las Vegas offers makes the markets that much more interesting. "We trade recipes and information about olives with people from around the world," she said. "We had a guy from Michigan who took home a whole case!"

Dr. Robert E. Parker, a sociology professor at UNLV, attests to the timeless attraction of farmers markets.

"It's an old-fashioned community activity," Parker said. Farmers markets were a big part of Parker's childhood in the Midwest. "It was a cultural thing to do on the weekends," he said.

The market offered different foods and insights of other cultures. "It brings together a lot of different people (who) would otherwise not be together," Parker said.

Mandy Smith of Summerlin, a massage therapist, agreed. She heard of the market through friends and brought other friends to try the barbecued ribs, ethnic breads and other tasty treats.

"The prices are reasonable and it's nice to be outdoors and look at the crafts," she said.

Sophie Burgess, a teacher who also lives in Summerlin, has been coming since the market opened in November. "I like the variety you can get," Burgess said. "You can't get (plump) strawberries like that in the store right now."

The mother of a young son, Burgess also meets lots of other Summerlin mommies strolling through the market and makes friends for play dates.

"It's a social thing," she said. "You don't talk to (other) people when you are in the store."

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