Last weekend you could hear the KP Brass Band playing at the Homer Farmers Market even if you were standing on the far side of the parking lot. You could also hear the oohs and aahs of the onlookers at the Zucchini Car Races. Their voices went low as the car crashed or got stuck and became shrill and laughing as the elaborate cars made it to the finish line.
The Market is always a wonderful place for families. Whether it’s chocolate-covered bacon from Jackalope Acres or snacks or toys, there is always something for little kids to be enamored with. Even babies have a place at the Market. The Nest, hosted by the Homer Medical Clinic, is a booth down near the kids’ activities tent where mothers who need a changing table or a private space to nurse can duck in and take care of their baby’s needs.
These are the bite-sized touches that make a community function well. Would the Market still be the Market if there wasn’t a booth for changing diapers and breast feeding? Sure, that is not a defining characteristic of Farmers Markets. But it is also a characteristic that can support mothers in a subtle way that changes a frustrating day to a happy and healthy one.
That little shift means that mother or father is a little less stressed and a little more present and supportive for that child. That child therefore has a good day feeling love and growing up stronger and healthier. I’m not exaggerating; don’t make me quote all the studies about brain development and emotional resiliency.
There are so many good things that we can do in a day that can create those little shifts towards positive outcomes. Never underestimate the power held in the beauty of the simple things. They create the good days that add up to good years that add up to good lives.
The Farmers Market just so happens to be chalk-full of such bits of beauty. So head on down to Ocean Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday or 2 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays to see how food and craft makes for a wholesome community.
Kyra Wagner is the coordinator of Sustainable Homer and the Homer Farmers Market’s biggest fan.
Eli Arbogast, left, and Rosie Skovron, right, staff a table on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, for Alaska Wild Salmon Day at the Homer Farmers Market in Homer, Alaska. Arbogast wears a salmon hat and Skovron a hat with “a row of roe,” she said. They are summer interns at Cook Inletkeeper. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Kevin Talbot-Clark of Anchorage checks out the zucchini cars at the Homer Farmers Market on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
