Firestone farmers market canceled

Students looking to purchase organic coffee, artisan cheese and fresh bread from the Greening Princeton Farmers Market, which convened in Firestone Plaza on Tuesdays, will be disappointed to find that it no longer exists.

For the past three years on every Tuesday during the fall and spring seasons, local vendors sold their vegetables, flowers, cheese and other locally produced goods on campus. But, the market was ended this fall.

The cancelation came after another venue, Princeton Farmers Market, moved to Hinds Plaza outside the Princeton Public Library this summer. The Princeton market, which is not affiliated with the University, is held every Thursday. It was previously located at the intersection of Nassau and Pine streets, said Judith Robinson, the market’s manager.

“It’s too much of a hassle for the vendors to come twice a week, so they come to the more profitable market for them, which is on Thursdays by the public library,” Greening Princeton member Malavika Balachandran ’12 said in an e-mail.

The market vendors “were expecting to run a market this fall, but we didn’t have enough vendors, so we were forced to cancel at the last minute,” she added. “But we do hope to work with the town market in the future, and we do hope to have a spring market.”

Balachandran explained that she thought the town market was motivated by the requests of specific influential vendors.

“The market was very lucrative, and Jack Morrison (owner of Witherspoon Grill) and the Momo brothers (owners of Witherspoon Bread Company, Mediterra and Teresa’s) wanted the market to be by their shop and on Thursdays to coincide with their restaurant needs,” she said.

But Morrison refuted the claim, saying that “a whole group of people” wanted the new location.

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“We’re farmer-centric,” Morrison said. “I want to see the farmers market prosper and flourish.”

Representatives of the other restaurants could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Balachandran said she thought the vendors’ move off campus was “unfortunate” but also called the Hinds Plaza market “very nice.”

“Students can find more prepared food at the market,” she added.

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Vendors at the farmers market on Thursday said the market’s move was good for business, even as there were noticeably fewer students there compared to a typical day at Greening Princeton’s market.

“I love it,” said Tom Sereduk of Longview Flowers. “My business has probably doubled.”

Jeff of Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms, who declined to give his surname, said that he had fewer student customers, but he explained that markets are driven by total number of customers, not by the type of customers they attract. And because the new location is closer to the “main part of town,” the new location is better for business overall, he said.

Greening Princeton organized its farmers market with University Dining Services. The market was launched in fall 2007 as a way of offering healthier food alternatives to students, faculty and local community members in the absence of a local grocery store. The initiative also aimed to encourage the purchase of locally produced goods.

The Princeton Farmers Market operates from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Thursday. It is sponsored by Nassau Street Seafood & Produce Co., the Terra Momo Restaurant Group, the Princeton Public Library and Princeton Borough.