For those seeking to buy local, organic, healthy foods, Jennifer Bishop’s Farm Store, which opened in March, offers a local option.
Bishop originally created a farm stand at Waiora Farm in 2010 and soon started adding on different products from local farms in the area. It soon evolved into more of a store, with the intention of eventually moving into the downtown Jeffersonville area.
After she looked for months, the white farmhouse at 50 Old Main Street became available. “It fell into my lap,” Bishop said. “It’s been amazing already. The turnout of people, all new customers and the quantity of what I am selling, I never ever did over at the farm.”
The transition has worked well for Bishop. “The farm really wasn’t a retail location,” she said. “We transformed half of their garage into a space for me to use. This is my space. I can completely do what I want to … here. I think it is the location.”
Bishop hopes to always offer something new, providing a wide range of products. “It’s local, it’s organic, it’s natural foods, and it’s minimally processed foods,” Bishop said. “I have a lot of people who have food allergies, whether it’s gluten or highly processed food that they can’t have. I really cater to those people. People are looking for things that aren’t processed and are from around here. I feel like that’s more important than even making sure that it is certified organic. The certification on organic almost makes it impossible for a lot farmers that do actually farm that way.”
At this time of year, she supplements the produce from local growers with Black River Produce. “They are a Vermont-based company,” Bishop said. “They try to keep their products coming mostly from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York.”
Though presently accepting only checks and cash, Bishop is working on accepting credit cards and purchasing the needed pin-pad to accept EBT cards, which she hopes to accomplish within a few weeks. “They [people] are so happy that there is a place that they can come and get fresh fruits and vegetables that aren’t off of a Sysco truck that have been in storage for God knows how long,” she said.
One local customer, Justin Marsh, appreciates the quality and convenience of the new store. “People can now go to The Farm Store rather than traveling to City Market or Healthy Living,” he said.
Another customer interested in local businesses in Jeffersonville, Grainne Dunne agrees. “How wonderful not to have to waste the gas money to drive into Morrisville or to St. Albans or Burlington. That may make organic food that much more accessible to local population,” she said.
