On most any Tuesday afternoons, pull into the Old Armory Pavilion at the corner of Bramlett and University in Oxford, MS, to find the bustling Oxford Community Market. Vendors show their organically grown produce, freshly baked breads, and other homemade goods at tables under the tin roof of the Pavilion. Meanwhile customers, friends, and family make their rounds. More than a few folks who come to the market each week aren’t there to shop. They’ve come out to visit, to share news, to gossip, and to connect with each other and the larger Oxford community. Laughter, conversation, and tunes from local musicians fill the air of the Market throughout the afternoon. The Oxford Community market operates from 3:00 to 6:30 pm all year long. True to its mission, the Oxford Community Market (OXCM) stands as an example of the potential of a farmers market to address food insecurity, boost the local food economy, and bring together diverse members of the community.
The Market began as the Oxford City Market, funded by a farmers market development grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. Local farmers wrote letters of support on behalf of Oxford, and the Oxford City Market came to fruition in the spring of 2013 under the direction of Katie Morrison. When Morrison moved on, Betsy Chapman, who spent a few years working for Market vendor Yokna Bottoms Farm, was hired as the Director of what would become the Oxford Community Market. By 2016, OXCM was established as a nonprofit.
Under Chapman’s leadership, the OXCM helps connect local, fresh foods to the people in the community who need that food the most. For much of the market’s life, a market-wide EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) system to accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) dollars has been a feature and a draw to shoppers of all economic backgrounds. Additionally, at the close of each selling cycle, the market buys leftover food from vendors to donate to the local food pantry in Oxford. Fresh, local food is for everyone. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the market worked with members of an Oxford Housing Authority neighborhood to build a community garden and to launch a food-based educational initiative for the children living in that neighborhood.
The OXCM also bolsters the local food economy. Doug Davis of Yokna Bottoms Farm remembers establishing his farm in 2009 when there were few other organic farms in north Mississippi. With the growth of the OXCM and other farmers markets in the area, farmers and other vendors, such as Falkner Farms (beef and pork producers), Poultry in Motion Farms (chickens and eggs), and local bakers, have found a robust, high-demand market for their goods. The Market also serves as a food business incubator. Over the years a number of aspiring chefs found their business footing as Market vendors first. The OXCM also hosts cooking demonstrations that allow vendors such as Pontotoc County-native Stark Aldridge and fried pie aficionado Rosie Hawkins to show community members how to make homemade dishes using ingredients from the farmers market.
Betsy Chapman says,
“Food just does bring people together. I mean, it brings a family around the table or friends sitting together and sharing a meal. That’s just what we do. And then it builds community in a larger sense. . . . It’s really cool to see students interacting with farmers who are in their 70s or 80s, and have been, you know, their farming land that’s been in their family for a couple hundred years.”
Much like a family dinner table, the OXCM brings together a variety of people from the community together, whether that is over a vendor’s table under the Old Armory Pavilion’s tin roof or around the community garden in the OHA neighborhood. The market acts as an example of how food connects and supports a Southern community.
Welcome to the Oxford Community Market.
Sources:
Humphries, Nature. “Big Bad Minero Pop-Up to Benefit Oxford City Market.” The Local Voice, March 26, 2015. http://www.thelocalvoice.net/oxford/big-bad-minero-pop-up-to-benefit-oxford-city-market/.
Long, Rebecca. “Oxford City Market: Now Open Until Thanksgiving Week.” The Local Voice, October 21, 2013. http://www.thelocalvoice.net/oxford/oxford-city-market-now-open-until-thanksgiving-week/.
Thompson, Brittain. “Oxford City Market Offering Affordable, Healthy Ingredients.” The Local Voice, May 2, 2016. http://www.thelocalvoice.net/oxford/oxford-city-market-offering-affordable-healthy-ingredients/.
