Bread rises again at ’09 Farmers’ Market
After a brief hiatus in 2008, bread will be back at the Oak Park Farmers’ Market in 2009.
Bread was first tested at the Saturday market in 2007 as an added category. But local bread businesses threw a fit, saying bread vendor Red Hen Bakery was taking away their business. They also claimed the out-of-town breadmaker enjoyed an unfair advantage by not having to pay monthly rent.
Bending to the protest, the Farmer’s Market Commission decided to kill bread for 2008.
“I think the commission was just pretty tired of it,” market manager Meredith Conn said in November of 2007. “It just caused so much negativity that our commissioners felt it’s not worth it to keep it here at this point. … It was causing too much animosity between us and the business community.”
In the summer of 2007, Great Harvest Bread Company owner Cathy Yen went as far as to say the market might put her out of business.
“We’ll shut down shortly if we don’t sell bread,” Yen said in June of 2007. “Right now we don’t sell bread because they buy it at the market, and it’s that simple.”
However, Conn and Melissa Wittenberg, chair of the volunteer commission, say demand for bread was fierce during the 2008 season. Customers complained about it all summer.
Wittenberg estimates there are 26 farmers’ markets in Northern Illinois, and Oak Park is one of only two that don’t allow bread. She believes reintroducing it will keep the village’s market competitive with others in the region.
“We want to give shoppers in the community something they can’t get readily themselves,” she said.
Conn and Wittenberg said they’d like to offer bread not available in Oak Park, but will keep the application process open to local breadmakers who might be interested.
“It’s not the goal of the Oak Park Farmers’ Market to be a second location for Oak Park businesses,” Wittenberg said.
Conn and Wittenberg claimed to have spoken with local breadmakers, and they seem to be comfortable with bread returning in 2009.
The village board voted 6-2 to allow bread to return next year. Trustees Ray Johnson and John Hedges voted against bringing it back, worried about the potential impact on local businesses.
“I just think this causes more problems than it resolves,” Johnson said.
According to village documents, the chosen bread vendor must make its bread from scratch and avoid using pre-made or unnatural ingredients.
Market permanently extended
Another change is also in store for the market in 2009:
The Oak Park Farmer’s Market tested out an early opening date last year, starting two weeks earlier than usual.
The test was a success with customers and growers, organizers say. So the market plans to permanently open the second to last Saturday in every May starting this year on May 23.
-Marty Stempniak
