From the country to the Crossroads

Takoma⁄Langley market takes root on Wednesdays, bringing fresh food to a diverse community

‘‘We grow some things that will hopefully be attractive to that area,” he said of the Crossroads, a diverse community of predominantly Latin American and African immigrants.

The market will be held Wednesday afternoons in a parking lot near Kennewick and New Hampshire avenues, which currently serves several physicians’ offices, law firms and insurance agencies, among other small businesses.

Hallack owns and operates the 45-acre organic Redbud Farm about 90 miles away from the Crossroads in Inwood, W.Va. His specialties include cassava, often made into flour or tapioca, jute greens, used in sauces served with lima beans and okra, habanero chili peppers and shallots.

The market was planned to open mid-May, but a later date was chosen to gather more farmers and offer more variety, since most crops peak in the summertime.

Funding came from a $60,000 grant awarded by New York City-based nonprofit Project for Public Spaces, which received $3 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation three years ago to promote markets in transitioning areas.

An additional $10,000 from the Wallace Genetic Foundation rounded out the funding for the market, which organizers hope will eventually become self-sustaining.

‘‘I think the customers are ready for this kind of shopping experience,” said Michele Thornett, project coordinator for the Crossroads market who also sells granola at the Takoma Park Farmers Market in Old Town.

All of the farmers will be coming from within 125 miles of the Crossroads. Some, like Louise Swartzwalder and her husband, John Hyde, are staples at the Old Town market. Swartzwalder, who has run a 1-acre plot of farmland near Goddard for the last six years, said the vegetables she will be selling — hot peppers, onions, squash and five varieties of tomatoes — are intended to appeal to Crossroads residents. Hyde, who worked with Thornett to get the new market off the ground, will staff the Takoma Kitchens baked goods booth.

‘‘This is aimed at helping people new to this country,” said Swartzwalder, president of the Takoma Park Farmers Market board of directors.

Emily Zaas, a bilingual education teacher and vendor at the Old Town market, said she would participate in the Crossroads version on a trial basis. All growers need to turn a profit, she said, although she was particularly drawn to the idea of the new market as a way to bring fresh foods to a more diverse community.

‘‘I think these markets have been becoming elite, and I don’t think healthy foods should be. These people have families that want a supply of good, fresh food,” she said. Zaas grows 70 varieties of apples, sweet plums, peaches and small berries, among other tree fruits, on her 65-acre Black Rock Orchard in Carroll County.

William Hanna, who runs immigrant advocacy group Action Langley Park, wrote in an e-mail that if successful, the market could bridge the cultural gap prevalent in the Crossroads. Farmers markets of this kind are popular in many of the residents’ homelands, he wrote, and the creation of a public space would promote ‘‘socializing, which is traditional in immigrants’ homelands but in short supply in suburban Maryland.”

Hallack admitted he was nervous about how successful the market would be, as the area is surrounded by less expensive alternatives, such as Safeway.

Only time will tell, he said, adding that he had the advantage of selling vegetables uncommon in chain grocery stores. And freshness was on his side, he said.

‘‘What we sell is higher quality than elsewhere,” Hallack said.

The details

The market will be held rain or shine 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays until Nov. 14 at 7676 New Hampshire Ave. in Takoma Park. Visit www.crossroadsfarmersmarket.org, or e-mail crossroadsmarket@gmail.com.