Markets Visits to Northern Missouri

Saturday July 18th intern, Jana Haley, made her way up to northwestern Missouri to visit the Chillicothe and Brookfield Farmers’ Markets.

While visiting the Chillicothe Farmers’ Market, Jana saw loads of different produce including corn, peaches, tomatoes, peppers, beets, zucchini, squash and onions. The market also included several different baked goods - for instance, there were pies, cookies and a variety of different types of breads. The market is home to more than 12 local growers that strive to bring their local community the best in local foods.

Jana spoke with Chillicothe market master Beth Weidner about the history of the market. Beth told her that the market has been in Chillicothe for 23 years and stated that she has participated in the market for 21 of those years. Beth was even able to bring out a scrapbook with newspaper articles and pictures from the first year the market opened. Beth also mentioned that in past years there has not been very much market advertising but this year they have began writing articles about a different vendor every week and submitting them to the local newspaper. Beth believes the community “is now connected to the market even more because they are beginning to personally know the vendors.”

The Chillicothe Farmers’ Market takes place every Saturday from May until October at 8am until sellout, located downtown in the courthouse square.

Jana’s other visit was to the Brookfield Famers’ Market. This market is open from May until October from 8am until 12pm, located in Torney Park off of Main St in Brookfield, MO. Jana said the Brookfield Farmers’ Market was a wonderful place to spend her afternoon, as the market is located in a beautiful park setting.

This market has about 12 vendors, but the market master Fran Graff told Jana that the number of vendors varies week to week. She said sometimes there is double that amount. The vendors were selling all sorts of products from jalapeño jellies, to dip packages you mix into sour cream, and of course local produce. The market also had a couple vendors selling crafts of all sorts.

Both farmers’ markets are great places to visit and both markets have a very diverse set of products they sell to fit any shoppers needs.