The Gray Street Farmers’ Market, located at 485 E. Gray St., turns 15 years old this year. What originally began as a partnership between UofL School of Public Health & Information Services and the Louisville Department of Health & Wellness, has now grown to include a new partner in Catholic Charities’ Common Earth Gardens.
The market’s two-fold mission to bring fresh, healthy and affordable food downtown and unite the community together remains the same.
Melissa Schreck, director of external affairs and strategic planning for UofL Health, explained in a recent interview that the intention of the Gray Street Farmers’ Market has always been to create a “community-based” market that lives “outside of the university space.” This is even reflected in its name, she said, which calls to mind the street, rather than the university.
Before the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the market was booming, Schreck said, bringing in approximately 300 visitors weekly.
When businesses and markets began opening after the shutdown, it wasn’t long before people began to ask about the well-loved market’s reopening, said Schreck.
However, employee downsizing from the virus had brought the UofL team down to a “skeleton crew” with fewer resources available for reopening the market, said Schreck.
It was “devastating,” she said. Schreck remembers asking herself, “What will we do to bring it back?”
That’s when Catholic Charities of Louisville, preparing for its move to 435 E. Broadway, approached the market’s leadership, bringing a wave of relief, said Shreck.
Catholic Charities’ Common Earth Gardens program has used the market as a location for refugee farmers to sell the produce they grow in 520 garden plots around Louisville.
Jane Evans, program director for Common Earth Gardens, said the program hosts community garden sites across the city of Louisville, focusing on locations where refugees are settling.
“Common Earth Gardens is keeping this market going — shepherding it to the next level. I am so glad we have formed this collaboration.”
Melissa Schreck
“Having their urban farmers has made all the difference,” said Schreck. She added, “Common Earth Gardens is keeping this market going — shepherding it to the next level. I am so glad we have formed this collaboration.”
In partnership with Catholic Charities, the market returned to its weekly schedule last year and aims to return to its former momentum.
As it has grown, Evans said, “It seems like a festival here sometimes. You see people coming together — from the hospital to the residents.”
“We are working to build the connections,” said Evans, explaining that Common Earth Gardens’ partnership with the Gray Street Farmers’ Market aims to facilitate relationships between refugees and the Louisville community.
To help bridge the gap, Common Earth Gardens also provides interpreters at Gray Street for farmers who do not speak fluent English so that customers can ask questions about the produce.
Evans explained that many refugees seek out produce native to their countries, but either cannot find it in the supermarket or cannot afford its high price. It’s not unusual for their diets to worsen upon their move to the U.S. as they lose access to fresh produce, she noted.
Farming in community gardens enables resettled refugees to harvest their native produce, and sell it to those looking for those ingredients within the community.
The farmers “are growing the crops people are looking for,” said Evans. This allows them to earn a little extra income, “helping them increase their quality of living,” and allowing them to “pass down to future generations their heritage.”
The Gray Street Farmers’ Market is open every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. through Sept. 26.
