Even in the dead of winter, the Columbia Farmers Market is alive with seasonal offerings from local producers. 

If you are like many who thrive in summer and grow melancholy when the cool weather comes, there is good news. You may be among those who don’t realize that the Columbia Farmers Market offers a vibrant atmosphere with fresh local produce and goods year-round.   

“We treat Saturdays in February the same as those in June,” said Corrina Smith, executive director for the past eleven years. Whether it’s fall, winter, or spring, she explained, “It is still a great space to get all of your groceries; you’re just eating with the seasons.”  

Smith encourages the community to enjoy and support the market all twelve months of the year, acknowledging the symbiotic interrelationships involved in eating fresh.   

Dustin Stanton of Stanton Brothers has been selling eggs at the market since 2007.  

“It’s the place to be on Saturday morning,” he said. A fifth-generation farmer and member of the market’s board of directors for nearly nine years, Stanton understands and knows the dynamics of local food better than most. In addition to the financial support the market affords, he said, “It is really great because people enjoy meeting their farmers but as farmers, the market is a great way for us to meet our customers and we love that.”  

For those unfamiliar, he reports that the winter market is still festive with live music, kid’s activities, and tours.   

Shoppers might also not know that there is actually a lot of green produce grown throughout the winter right in mid-Missouri.  

“More and more of our vendors are evolving their production processes to be able to produce something year-round,” Smith said. “The most common seasonal extensions are greenhouses, high tunnels or hoop houses and row cover, all of which allow farmers to produce some type of fresh produce.”  

Producers are also growing fall and storage crops, things like sweet potatoes, winter squash, and garlic that can be sold throughout the entire winter. She wants people to think beyond corn, tomatoes, and watermelon, and know that the winter market still offers meat, eggs, fresh greens and vegetables, baked goods, honey, and prepared foods in addition to niche items like mushrooms and microgreens.  

While the Columbia Farmers Market dates to 1980, the winter market has steadily grown since its debut in 2010. These years on, with Columbia’s Agricultural Park coming to fruition, the Farmers Market is finally settling into a permanent home in the MU Health Care Pavilion. The dust was still settling from final construction last fall, so the 2024/2025 season will mark the first since 2018 that the market isn’t adjusting to infrastructure changes. The heated, indoor gathering looks forward to welcoming its estimated 2,500 to 3,000 weekly shoppers and attendees, up from just 100 during its humble beginnings.   

Attendance and venue are far from the only things that have improved over the years. There is a common slogan behind the scenes in the farmers market world that says, “Farmers Markets don’t just happen.” In Columbia’s case, the busy team currently works from home and is comprised of two full-time and one part-time employee, along with a small group that works specifically at the markets. When the Welcome Center at the Agriculture Park is complete, the staff will have offices onsite alongside its ally — Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture. The new space will also be used to expand programming and provide education, business development, and marketing skills to farmers to help them be more successful. Onsite, the shared kitchen will undoubtedly foster new product development and unforeseen entrepreneurial collaborations.  

Currently, the Columbia Farmers Market staff not only facilitates the market event itself, which draws 5,000 to 7,000 people during the summer months, but it also works day in and day out on programming to support local farmers and agriculture, to provide market access to disadvantaged locals, and to continue teaching and feeding people. A 2019 USDA Farmers Market Promotional Program grant awarded to the market funded multiple marketing workshops open to vendors, facilitated thirty branded websites being designed and built for select market vendors to carry forward, afforded fifty-one promotional vendor profile videos to be created, and allowed  for a corresponding printed booklet titled “Food From Home” which includes favorite recipes and is still available online.   

While proceeds from the annual Farm to Table event contribute to support operations, an organizational change to a 501(c)(3) non-profit status has helped develop additional funding for the overall mission. For example, the Columbia Farmers Market now participates in the CoMoGives online fundraising event. This year’s goal is $20,000. Another new revenue stream and way for local businesses that don’t fit into vendor parameters to still participate in the market and support its work is the sponsorship program. It allows sponsor businesses to table at the market and interface with its customers in addition to receiving recognition in print and online.   

The Market’s goals of philanthropy and goodwill are perhaps most reflected in alliances with local social services. Last year, the Columbia Farmers Market dispensed over $227,000 in food incentive benefits and it anticipates surpassing that this year.  

“Everybody eats and we want everyone to have access to what our farmers and producers are growing, making and bringing to the market,” Smith said.  

That is being done through multiple initiatives including SNAP and WIC matching programs, as well as WIC-FMNP and SFMNP vouchers. In partnership with Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, the Columbia Farmers Market also participates in the Produce Prescription Program administered through Compass Health where patients are prescribed and provided fresh fruits and vegetables. If you are a SNAP, WIC, SFMNP or WIC-FMNP recipient living in Boone County, a senior, disabled or living with children under 19 years old, you can shop the market, and the Columbia Farmers Market will match your benefits up to $35 per market. Sign-up is simple and can be done online or at the Oasis booth on-site.  

 Smith added that she’s been doing her job long enough to know customers she saw as kids now shopping as adults. Children of all ages are welcome to join the weekly Good Food Detectives club. All you need to do is stop by the Oasis booth to sign up for free, receive and complete one of three activity booklets, and earn “Munch Money.” Kids earn $2 for each completed activity book and can spend it on fruits and vegetables.  

“We’re teaching where our food comes from and who is growing it and giving them the buying power and empowerment to build their own relationships with farmers,” Smith said. “We’re cultivating the next generation of our shoppers and planting these seeds as a type of legacy planning.”   

It’s little surprise that all of the good works have garnered recognition. In 2021, Columbia was named the No. 1 Farmers Market in the nation, the Midwest, and in Missouri by American Farmland Trust.  

“To be recognized for what we have done is an honor but there are so many farmers markets out there that are doing amazing work,” Smith said. “I don’t think any farmers market is the best market; I think that we have the best customers. They are the ones who have supported us since 1980 and more recently in the capital campaign to build the pavilion.”  

If you need a healthy pick-me-up this winter, think of the Columbia Farmers Market which features nearly ninety vendors from within a fifty-mile radius, most of whom are located in or near Boone County. As a producer-only market, everything sold is offered by the farmers and artisans who help sustain the culture, economy, and environment of the region.   

“We would not be the Columbia Farmers Market without our customers,” Smith explained. “That is really who the awards go to, those who shop with us every week and help support our local farmers.”