THANKS to the Village Inn
for the use of their parking lot 

History and Purpose of the Market

The Belgrade Lakes Farmers' Market exists to build our community through connecting people to food and farms, and to provide a place for local farmers, growers and farm-based crafters to sell their agricultural products.

The Market began in 2005 as a serendipitous meeting of a few interested folks over a talk on home gardening sponsored by the Belgrade Public Library.  Among the enthusiasts were the proprietors of the Village Inn in Belgrade Lakes, who offered their parking lot on Sunday mornings.  A group of us worked through the spring to figure out logistics, and combed nearby small farms to find vendors of locally grown or produced goods. We started in July 2005 with a small cadre of vendors, and have been growing ever since.  Our customers love the local food connection!

What appeals about our market?  Well, the setting on the shore of Long Pond in Belgrade Lakes village is hard to beat.  Also, we’re a small group in a small parking lot, working  in close proximity.  From the start, we wanted a collaborative model with friendship and communication among members the priority. 

While vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat are the core of our market, we also choose to support a variety of farm-based enterprises by including some farm-based crafts and baked goods.

We seek to offer the finest quality products at a reasonable price, and with a smile and genuine interest in serving and educating our customers.

When you shop at the Market you are supporting local agriculture and the local economy, helping keep our region vibrant and diverse, and keeping farmland in production.

Local food is healthier food –

• Healthy for you-- more tasty and more nutritious than processed and cross-country food
• Healthy for our communities,  keeping traditional land uses along with modern growth
• Healthy for our environment - all of our growers are good stewards of the soil and land, and most use organic practices; being close by saves energy and pollution from long-distance trucking; and small-scale farmers maintain genetic diversity in crop plants by using different types of seeds, so that the future of our food supply is more secure.

We hope you enjoy the market!