September 10, 2009 – Our Town – Delaware

A Delaware farmers’ market participant displays her wares.

Photo by John Holliger

Fresh from the Streets of Delaware
How OWU and Delaware’s farmers’ market are serving the community

“Think globally, act locally.” We’ve all heard it before, but have we taken this message to heart? Here in Delaware, every Saturday morning an opportunity exists to do so. Just ask Lisa Tabak, community member and now lab manager of Ohio Wesleyan’s zoology department.

Every Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sandusky Street and William Street are lined with tables of fruit, vegetables, artwork, baked goods, plants, and other miscellaneous items for Delaware’s own farmers’ market. Tabak, who has been selling at the market for five years now, started when the market first left the Fairgrounds to come into downtown Delaware.

“That guy with the old scale on his table,” Tabak directs me, “has been here since the market started back at the Fairgrounds.” The Main Street Delaware farmers’ market has been advanced by local people, as well as local stores such as Beehive Books.

But what really keeps the market alive is the community. “[I enjoy] meeting the community. It’s such a large cross section I get to see,” answers Tabak, when asked what she likes most about tabling at the market. “It’s hard to tell my regulars that I won’t be here next year. I want to promote the market.” While selling home-baked goods and artwork, such as shirts with an environmental theme, Tabak has multiple reasons to promote the market. She is a supporter of the green movement and feels strongly about using natural ingredients. She uses unbleached flour, unsalted butter, Ghirardelli chocolate, and occasionally, whole wheat in her baking. These ingredients, along with her careful labeling, help customers with any food restrictions they may have. She also thinks it’s important to eat locally and seasonally. “[The market] allows you to eat seasonally instead of eating corn from who knows where,” she explains. “Customers sometimes don’t understand what’s in season, and you have to explain it to them. In summer, base your meals around corn, because that is when you have it.”

Eating healthfully is the inspiration Tabak needed to start selling at the market. “That might sound funny coming from someone who sells baked goods,” she admits. Yet she doesn’t believe that dessert is something one can never have. “I believe strongly in small amounts of rich things,” she explains. “I want people to realize one good brownie is better than a whole package of store-bought cookies.”

Other advantages also exist with working at and visiting the market. It helps solve Delaware’s parking problem which many community members think is an issue. “You have to walk farther from your car to the mall than you do around the market,” says Tabak. The market also helps to finance the green movement, and for Tabak, it has allowed her to make some money while being home with her children. Senior citizens can also apply for a voucher to redeem on edible goods at the market, and at least one table each week is dedicated to community service.

The market started only as means to buy bargains, but really it is so much more. It is not just the bargains, but the end ingredients, the choice of anti-pesticides, and the feel of community that have kept the market thriving. Although Tabak is sad to leave the market next year, she likes OWU and the individual attention for each student. “The students are so enthusiastic,” she exclaims. After a blanket e-mail sent out to the OWU campus last year, Tabak was excited to see OWU students at the market for the first time. “They finally came,” she says. Tabak encourages all community members, and students in particular, to visit the market, allowing them to get into community service and think globally, act locally.

– Christina Fesz ’12