The Geneseo Farmers Market: bringing residents together with sunshine, flowers, and fresh produce
The outdoor market offers endless benefits and fun to Geneseo residents
Photo Courtesy of Jenny Mavimiro- Pexels
As September begins and autumn approaches, everyone is trying to soak up the last days of summer whenever possible. A Forbes Health article explains this feeling with the term, “sunshine guilt,” the idea that people feel guilty or stressed as a result of not enjoying enough of the summertime, sun, warm weather, and outdoor events.
However, the village of Geneseo is offering residents a way to avoid sunshine guilt and get excited for autumn. The Geneseo Farmers Market has returned to the village for the fifteenth season, having been “started in 2011 by a small group of people passionate about farmers markets,” according to the official website of Explore Genesee Valley. Since the first market in 2011, it has “grown each year, with new vendors and new offerings,” and become something for Geneseo residents to look forward to.
The market is open every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., from June 18 to Oct. 8. It is hosted in the Village Park, as listed on the Visit Geneseo official website. Visit Geneseo also lists the vendors and the goods they bring to the market. They include Sweet Arts Bakery, Baked by Bean Home Bakery, and The Rolling Pin, which all feature fresh baked goods, alongside several local farms with fresh produce, two local gardens with dried and fresh flowers, as well as some vendors with natural and personal care items.The event also has arts and crafts station for children complete with crayons, paper, and even bubbles.
The Geneseo Farmers Market returning to the village for its fifteenth season is exciting for residents who want to spend some more quality time outside this fall, however, it also brings other benefits to market-goers. According to the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), “[r]esearch strongly suggests that, by choosing to eat local [produce], you can avoid or reverse a variety of maladies that can both shorten your lifespan and diminish your quality of living, such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and even many different types of cancers.” Furthermore, the YMCA of Central New York has published that local foods often contain more vitamins, such as Vitamin-C and antioxidants that help to fight diseases, than store-bought ones that have sat on shelves and are less fresh. These antioxidants and vitamins decrease in produce as it becomes less fresh, and more time passes between the time it’s picked and the time it’s eaten. Farmers markets are much more likely than grocery stores to offer freshly picked fruits and vegetables.
Not only is the fresh produce at the farmers market something to look forward to, but the market also offers fresh flowers—which are both beautiful and beneficial. The Society of American Florists (SAF) published research by Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, finding that “[f]lowers have an immediate impact on happiness…study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers, and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.”
The Geneseo Farmers Market even posted on their official Instagram account that they have a bowl of water outdoors at the market for dogs—alongside the endless treats for humans—and outdoor games such as Kan Jam to enjoy. Until October, Geneseo and Livingston County residents have the opportunity to buy fresh produce and flowers, spend time outside, and bring their pets, children, friends, and family to a great environment right in the village of Geneseo.