Summertime marks peak season for farmers, and BREADA’s Red Stick Farmers Market is helping Baton Rouge shoppers have easier access to fresh food and making healthy eating effortless and affordable.
BREADA, standing for Big River Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance, is a non-profit organization that started in 1996, turning their mission of building a healthy and strong local food system in Baton Rouge into a reality.
Development Director Mysti Byrnes is leading that goal into full focus in 2026, explaining how BREADA putting on the Red Stick Farmers Market around the city is supporting shoppers to explore variety in their diets.
“This is a great time to start the health journey because this is a high yield season for our local farmers,” Byrnes said. “There’s a ton to choose from, especially the month of June is a great time to get going.
According to the Society of Behavioral Medicine, adding seasonal items in your meals such as certain fruits and vegetables can help increase variety in your diet. These items sold at farmers’ markets are typically harvested close to the time they are sold, helping improve freshness and flavor compared to shopping at your typical grocery store.
When arriving at the Red Stick Market, customers will notice a wide range of seasonal items, including everything from heirloom tomatoes and Ponchatoula strawberries to goat cheese and fresh-caught seafood.
From there, customers can purchase produce at an affordable price, such as buying two cucumbers for three dollars and a carton of eggs for seven dollars.
This November marks the non-profit organization’s 30th anniversity since setting up its first market near downtown Baton Rouge. Since BREADA’s start, Byrnes explained how it has grown in popularity over the years- originally having one market a week to now four markets weekly across the city.
Gabrielle Bynum, a local vendor and weekly customer at the farmer’s market, has taken advantage of the opportunity to buy fresh produce, noting that shopping locally can go a long way for the community and supporting a healthy lifestyle.
“Any grocery store, chain stores, all that is not locally sourced,” said Bynum. “It’s a great experience to shop local, because you get to see what’s in season during the time that you go to the market.”
The Red Stick Farmers Market is not only home to Baton Rouge farmers and vendors, but also ones stemming from 14 parishes across South Louisiana. Raymond Cutrer, who sets up shop for Cutrer’s Meat Market & Slaughterhouse, is a prime example of that.
“We’ve made family down here,” Cutrer said. “Our customers are our family and that’s true of all our farmers market vendors and customers. It’s a tight-knit little group.”
Every week Cutrer and his family make the drive from Kentwood, Louisiana to showcase their family business to Baton Rouge customers. So far, that weekly trip has been worth it for the past 15 years.
“It’s a great way to do business,” said Cutrer. “You get a relationship with the people you’re buying your food from. You know you can trust them. You know that they’re going to give you [the] best of the best of what they have.”
As BREADA continues to set up its weekly markets around Baton Rouge, just know that taking a trip to any market can be the start to building healthier habits while supporting local farmers and vendors one purchase at a time.