Sodus Farmers' Market

The Sodus Farmers’ Market was “born” as a result of a chat among friends at the United Third Methodist Church in Sodus village, and consultation with two experienced farmer market vendors: Marie Costello and Olen Youngman. With their guidance, a committee of three was formed to “figure it all out”. In June 2009, we started our market with seven vendors on opening day. The response from the residents of Sodus was explosive and most of those first vendors were sold out within an hour. The market grew by leaps and bounds. We added special events, offered businesses a free first time space at the market, and had entertainment when we could find volunteers. From the first, we abided by the rules created by the NYS Agriculture Department in order to be certified by the state to accept WIC and FMNP checks. After the market was accredited, farmers had to take special training for these programs. This year, WIC and FMNP are ongoing and we are also accepting Electronic Food Stamp cards through the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program. The red tape and training has just been finished for that. At great expense to the congregation and as a result of much work by our pastor, the parking lot where the market is held has been repaved. In 2011, our third year, we have over 20 paid seasonal vendors attending for the whole season and a number of vendors who will come on a weekly basis once their crops are available. The market will be large, varied, and safer on the new blacktop surface.