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Since December of 2010, the Amherst Winter Farmers Market has been keeping customers coming back with its great local product and dedicated community involvement. The growth of the market is something that long time vendors and customers take pride in and how they remain optimistic about the future years to come for the market.

Located in the cafeteria of the Amherst Regional Middle School, the AWFM is a place where members of the community can come every Saturday from December through the beginning of April to purchase their favorite local produce as well as some personal care and household products from local farmers and vendors.

Kristen Whitmore, former manager of the AWFM, who resigned at the end of January to accept a separate job, pointed out how even though she was only manager for a short amount of time, she still saw a growth throughout this season, compared to the 2014-2015 season.  “I worked hard to try to fill the market to capacity with vendors each week, and while this wasn’t always the case, we definitely saw increased participation,” Whitmore said.

The new manager of the market is University of Massachusetts-Amherst student Marcus Smith. A Sustainable Food and Farming major here at UMass, Smith has been attending the local Amherst markets, both summer and winter, since the summer of 2015. Throughout his time as a member of the market, Smith has made it a priority to continue trying to expand the community involvement of the market. In doing so, Smith has reached out to the Amherst Community Co-op to work on growing out partnerships to get more local produce into the market.

A long-time member of the AWFM is Pam Tinto. Tinto, a Hadley resident, has been visiting the market since its beginning in 2010. When asked about what qualities of the market draws her, Tinto pointed out the combination of access to the local products as well as the community she sees consistently every weekend at the market. “I know many people that are here, so I feel like we come here and see each other each week, so it’s the sense of community in the area,” Tinto said.

Community involvement and quality produce has been the theme that the AWFM has built over the past five years for itself. Knowing that there will be customers in the market each week helps attract vendors.  It has been proven that in the last six years that the more people in the community that become involved, the more of a fun and enjoyable experience is for everyone