After growing up eating fruits and vegetables from her family garden, Krissi Pearson learned what food was supposed to taste like, and the importance of eating seasonally. “You can get beautiful strawberries from the grocery store in January, but they’ll taste like nothing,” she says.

Krissi is a year-round farmers market supporter, going to the University District Farmers Market all year, and the Columbia City Farmers Market in the summer on her way home from work. At the summer markets, Krissi loves getting flats of berries, particularly blueberries, and stone fruits. She likes going to two markets a week, because the half-flat of berries she buys at each market will be gone by the time she goes to the next market.  

Even though the winter markets don’t have fresh berries, Krissi still makes her way every week. She likes that the winter markets are calmer and less crowded than the summer ones, and she doesn’t feel like she has to rush to get product before it sells out. Winter markets have given her the opportunity to really get to know the vendors who grow her food, since they have more time to stop and chat during the colder, slower months.

The farmers market community is something that is really important to Krissi. She admires how the community of market vendors are so supportive of each other; making trades, promoting each other, and being an inclusive, supportive community. Krissi also recalls chatting with people in line once the markets reopened, and appreciates that it was a Covid-safe activity with a much-needed social element.

It is market supporters like Krissi who keep the markets alive, year after year. She is not just a market shopper, but a member of the Neighborhood Farmers Market community.