Buz Waitzkin, Attorney, Farmers Market Customer
Coming to the Floyd Farmers Market is a nice way to support local farmers and buy from people who actually made their products. The notion that SustainFloyd was able to take a pitted gravel parking lot and transform it into this Market is remarkable and a wonderful use of space. Also, SustainFloyd’s ability to work out the EBT [Electronic Balance Transfer] program to help lower income folks has been a great way to engage the community and benefit those who might not otherwise have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Rima Forrest, Farmers Market Customer
I live in Floyd near the Little River, but I travel a great deal for business and pleasure. Any Saturday I’m in town, I visit the Floyd Farmers Market. It really boosts my spirits. Everyone is happy here! I love to buy flowers and fresh eggs. The cinnamon buns remind me of my Grandma’s. I also buy produce and have strong feeling about supporting local farmers through my purchases at the Market. It also takes the stress off ME to grow my own vegetables. I have challenged myself to buy something from each vendor at the Floyd Farmers Market. There’s so much variety!
Elizabeth & David Slover, Farmers Market Customers
We think about it all week…what we want to buy at the Floyd Farmers Market on Saturday. Coming here always makes us happy, makes us smile and just float downstream. We love the music and the nice variety of items to buy. This Market that SustainFloyd established is also a great benefit for the vendors who not only make money here, but get good exposure for their farms. SustainFloyd’s Tiny House Tour looked wonderful too. We wish we could have gone to that!
Kat Johnson, Tiny House Owner
The people who attended the SustainFloyd Tiny House Tour were wonderful. They came from a million different backgrounds and were excited about an alternative lifestyle. The tour went off without a hitch. We tapped into something relevant and I think that was really smart of SustainFloyd. SustainFloyd recognized there was something happening in Floyd and then shared it with the larger population.
Gail in Annapolis
A note of thanks for all your efforts in putting on the Tiny House tour in May. A friend and I I drove down from Annapolis MD, and it was well worth the trip! Having been interested in the tiny house movement for a number of years, I was pleased to get to see a nice variety of tiny homes (including a wonderful yurt), and meet the owners. I learned a great deal, and enjoyed exploring Floyd with the provided tour maps. The screening of the film “Tiny” was a delightful ending to an informative day. And the post-screening interviews with the homeowners sparked my interest to learn even more about the tiny house movement, and about Floyd as well. Everyone I met was open and willing to share their experiences. Many thanks for such a professional job on organizing, promoting and presenting the Tiny House tour. I hope SustainFloyd will have another event/tour that allows us get to see Floyd up close and personal as well as this one did. I look forward to returning for another visit!
Jim Knapp, Tiny House Owner
The big turnout for the SustainFloyd Tiny House Tour was quite a surprise. People were interested and attended because of the economics of building and living in a tiny house. There are actually many ways to improve what we’re doing to the earth, in addition to just leaving a smaller footprint. The Tiny House Tour was a lot of work for Sustain Floyd. I was privileged to observe it from the sidelines!
Randall and Marjory Wells, Retirees
We have seen a half-dozen movies sponsored by SustainFloyd and always come home stimulated, edified, and a bit troubled. The films explore the connections among food, money, locale, and power both corporate and political–or corporate-political. We have a keener sense of how all these factors might be at work in Floyd County. The movies, along with discussions afterward, help us appreciate the challenges of food–growing it, having enough of it, and ensuring its healthiness. We also enjoy being with people who have chosen to live in the county and want it to flourish.
Tree Gigante, The Flower Lady, Owner of Perennial Uprisings
I was one of the first vendors when SustainFloyd established the Floyd Farmers Market. I am thankful to SustainFloyd for creating this space and I’ve enjoyed watching the Market grow. It has been great! The Floyd Farmers Market has provided an outlet for me to be sustainable…growing and arranging these flowers to sell…most of which I have sprouted from seed. I perform a service as “The Flower Lady,” because my customers give flowers on sad occasions, when someone is sick, when celebrating or even when there is trouble with the wife. Also, as a single working mom, SustainFloyd’s providing double the benefits in the SNAP food assistance program and the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) has been HUGE for me. The double benefits have enabled me to shop at the Market as well as sell here. I can buy fresh fruits and vegetables for my family.
Scott Perry, Floyd Musician, Teacher, Farmers Market Customer
The Floyd Farmers Market is extraordinary and contributes so much to our county! It’s like attending a Floyd County Block Party every Saturday. My wife, Lisa, and I recently sold our farm in Check and moved closer to town. We are grateful to the Floyd Farmers Market and its talented young farmers who now provide us with fresh produce, local meat, flowers and more. We are big fans of the Market!
Rebecca Shannon, Floyd Farmers Market Vendor
The Floyd Farmers Market has been a lifesaver for me. At first, it was a quick way to support myself through some serious life changes. Now, it’s “community” to me. I absolutely love the Market. I started as a customer and then Kester Clark Farm began selling my herbs and extra peppers here, so I decided to become a vendor and sell items, myself. I think a lot of people have not been aware of SustainFloyd’s involvement in establishing and running the Floyd Farmers Market. Other markets here have failed because there was not an organization to focus and help them. SustainFloyd has done that here. The market managers have been great. I’ve been a fan of SustainFloyd for a while.
Ann First, Farmers Market Customer
I’m at the Floyd Farmers Market most Saturday mornings because it is one of the most wonderful ways to start a weekend that I can think of. As I walk up and see the tables all full of delightful fruits, veggies, breads, handmade goods, and hear the accomplished musicians, I’m all smiles! Here, I can enjoy saying “good morning” to old and new friends, swapping stories about our past week and making weekend plans to come. This Market has added so much to the Community of Floyd. I appreciate the hard-working, faithful members of SustainFloyd and others of this community who see that this tradition continues in beautiful downtown Floyd.