The Red Stick Farmers Market is a staple in the Baton Rouge community and supports local farmers and artisans as well as the people who shop at the market. Darlene Adams Rowland has taken over as executive director of BREADA, the Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance, after working for the organization for 13 years.
The farmers market is all about supporting and bringing the community together. That is why the market is made up of all local vendors that BREADA has visited. BREADA is the non-profit organization that puts on the Red Stick Farmers Market. Vendors at the market include bakers, farmers, restaurants and more.
“What is really special about the Red Stick Farmers Market is that we are a 100% producer-only market,” Rowland said. “What that means is that as an organization we actually go visit the farm and we make sure that the people that are selling here are actually growing and producing the food or actually baking the goods, things like that.”
The market is held every Thursday at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Saturday at the Main Street Market from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Rowland hopes to strengthen the connection between vendors and customers even more in the future.
“We really want to strengthen our current network of markets, but we also want to look at different ways that we maybe could connect the public with the farmers more,” Rowland said. “To do more behind the scenes stories to help people get to know about the people who grow their food.”
The market is able to help people in the community by offering a program called Red Stick Rewards. This program helps people in the community who are apart of the program SNAP to be able to buy more fresh goods provided at the farmer’s market. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a federal program that assists low-income Americans in obtaining food.
“We accept SNAP at all of our markets for all of our students and families that rely on that,” Rowland said. “We have a matching program sponsored by Louisiana Health Care Connections where you can get double the amount of what you spend, up to 15 dollars, to spend on fresh food.”
Collin Wilson is a part of Bonnecaze Farms which has been selling its products at the market since its creation in 1996. He loves being a part of a community and interacting with people who regularly come to the market.
“It’s a real cool community of people coming out here looking for local product,” Wilson said. “It’s a lot of fun; it doesn’t feel like work.”
Michelle Uzee, owner of The Sugar Mills Confections, started selling her baked goods at the Red Stick Market four years ago. Uzee said she always had a passion for baking and the market gave her a chance to try selling her products.
“I like the interaction with people, dealing face to face with my customers. I get to know a lot of people and meet a lot of people and I get to build a clientele and have a lot of regular customers,” Uzee said. “It’s almost like family because they come every week and just see them and talk to them.”
The markets have been able to stay open and successful during the pandemic. In Phase one, they did a drive-thru market, and now to ensure the safety of vendors and customers, they require masks and spread-out vendor spots.
Rowland encourages young people to come and see what the market has to offer. Students can find fresh produce at lower prices while also gaining a connection to their community.
“We would love to have more connection to students and have them come to the market,” said Rowland. “It’s free to come to the market and it’s a great activity to get out and see what’s happening with your community.”
While the Red Stick Farmers Market is its main program, BREADA does a multitude of things in the community. It also has programs such as the Red Stick Sprouts, nutrition education and outreach and farm to tabletops.
“Most people just see the Red Stick Farmers Market, which is our most public-facing program, but BREADA is the organization that is the nonprofit behind the Red Stick Farmers Market,” Adams said. “During the week we are doing everything from grant writing for funding to support the organization to keeping our website current, keeping our newsletter current, working with community partners to schedule programs, then, of course, we have our planning for our seasonal markets.”
To learn more about BREADA or The Red Stick Markets visit https://breada.org/