A regular farmer’s market at the Stacy Watler Agricultural Pavilion in Lower Valley is scheduled to commence on Saturday, 11 August.
The market, which will be called ‘Marketplace at the Grounds’, will start as a monthly event. However Leader of Government Business and Minister of Agriculture Kurt Tibbetts said that could change.
‘If it proves popular with the public and the vendors, it could turn into a weekly event,’ he said at the Cabinet press briefing Friday.
The committee planning the market, which comprises members of the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society and representatives from both the Department and Ministry of Agriculture, has called a meeting for all interested vendors on Monday, 25 June at 7pm at the pavilion.
‘The Marketplace committee has envisioned the market as a place for local residents to showcase products made from local ingredients by residents,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
The proposed food vendors would include those selling local produce, dairy, eggs and seafood; those selling locally manufactured processed foods like jams, jellies and sauces that use primarily locally grown ingredients; and bakers and other food vendors that use local ingredients and whose products express local culinary flavours.
Other proposed vendors would include plant nurseries that primarily sell locally propagated plants; craft vendors whose work is manufactured locally, with a priority given to those who make their crafts with locally produced materials; and vendors of clothing, music and media whose ideas and designs are created locally.
Mr. Tibbetts said the Marketplace at the Grounds committee has made a commitment to being as earth friendly as possible.
‘[The committee] is encouraging shoppers to carry their own shopping bags to the market and is asking vendors to limit the amount of waste they produce,’ he said.
One of the reasons the Stacy Watler pavilion was chosen was because of its large canopy that will shelter vendors and customers in the event of rain, Mr. Tibbetts said.
‘We plan for all the stalls to be placed under the pavilion to create a real old fashioned market feel.’
Because there will be no fixed refrigeration at the pavilion, local meats will not be sold there. However, included in the broader plan to develop the area as an agri-tourism attraction, are facilities in which local beef, pork and mutton would be sold.
Related Videos
