Belleville Farmers’ Market remembering its roots as it looks to the future

By Evan Doherty ^[1]

BELLEVILLE – The Market square has been around before Belleville even became a city.

When you walk into the George Zegouras Market Square on a bright sunny day and you’re greeted by a group of friendly faces. Rows upon rows of tables sheltered by umbrellas for shade and wooden baskets are lined up with a variety of vendors ready to serve you with a smile. Golden potatoes in the sunlight and ripe red apples practically spill off the tables. From homegrown juicy tomatoes to bright yellow sunflowers and handcrafted jewelry, there’s something there for everyone.

The Belleville Farmer’s Market ^[2] has been selling fresh fruits and vegetables since 1816. Passing down traditions from generation to generation for 203 years, many people from the past and present grew up with it.

Neil Rockman, 62,  says he’s been a vendor at Belleville Farmer’s Market for 30 years.

When I was a little kid and I would come to this market when it was in the basement of the city hall, Rockman says.

“They had ducks hanging up inside and you would be going to the butcher and he would cut the meat right there in front of you,” he says.

“As a kid, I loved it and I wanted to come back and we had a family farm, he says. So it’s kind of a thing I’ve had all my life,” he says.

Everything that’s sold here is local or from Ontario, he says. The broccoli is from Van Grootheest Farm ^[3] in Picton and the cauliflower is from a Dutch-Canadian farmer in Bloomfield, he says.

None of the produce comes from the Ontario Food Terminal ^[4] warehouse in Toronto, he says.

In fact, Rockman used to work on Van Grootheest Farm.

“I used to plow and plant for these same guys,” he says.

People come in from out of town, usually Toronto, to experience Belleville’s farmer’s market, he says.

“They’ve never seen a real farmer’s market and the other ones (markets) are all commercial, he says. They sell coconuts and pineapple and we can’t do that here,” he says.

All the people who have stalls at the market know each other because we’ve all been here for a long time, he says.

“I tried working in a factory, couldn’t do it. I tried to work as a corporate executive. I lasted 90 days and I walked off the job because it wasn’t for me. It’s like being on the inside looking outside,” Rockman says.

Ara Wilson, 23, is carrying on her family legacy. Her grandparents passed down their stand to her around three years ago because they recently retired, she says.

Standing the test of time since the 1970s, their stand is still in the square today. She says she has been selling flowers at the market for 10 years because she would come back during the summers while she was in university.

She says she started selling flowers, skin products, and honey at her grandparents’ stand three years ago.

“My grandparents had three boys. Two of the three boys became beekeepers and one of those boys was my father,” she says.

“I grew up in this environment because my father did the same thing,” Wilson says.

Honey is produced at her grandfather’s farm in Stirling, she says. The flowers come from her father’s farm in Thomasburg, south of Tweed, she says.

“After I graduated university, my boyfriend and I bought some bees and carried on the family tradition,” Wilson says.

Belleville became a city in 1867. In 1873, the city hall was built with two floors. The first floor housed the indoor market and the second floor was a multi-purpose floor for the municipal government. City hall fell into disrepair during the 1970s. In 1986, the city decided to renovate the building, but it did not include the indoor market. The farmer’s market reopened in 1988 outdoors after the city hall was renovated to have four floors instead of two.

“Even after many years, regular customers still come back to the market,” Rockman says.