Project 1: The Attentive Mind: Observation, Reflection, Insight

The wind whipped through the Farmers’ Market with a particular viciousness the morning I was there. As a matter of fact, when I first arrived, one of the tents that was set up over a small booth of vegetables almost blew over. The grizzled old farmer who was crouched under the tent grasped frantically for the ropes to keep his tent from flying away. Fortunately, some passersby rushed to his aid, grabbing the ropes and, after stabilizing the tent, lashed it tightly to sandbags so that it would not blow over again. As I watched this, I got to thinking about how nice it was for those guys to jump in and help that old man out. That really demonstrated to me the spirit of Farmers’ Market which is, in essence, the spirit of community. I realized this as I saw those big men helping the little old farmer with his tent. As they were fixing it, they were joking and laughing with the old man about what had happened. It was like family - they treated each other as if they had known one another for years.

The Farmers’ Market of Lincoln, Nebraska is a small gathering in the Historic Haymarket, where groups of people get together to buy and sell local products, to perform on the street or be entertained by performances on the street, or maybe just to connect with other community members in an informal and personal way. The people who go to Farmers’ Market form a small community of regular folk who still believe in the importance of connecting with others. Farmers’ Market seems to be imperative in not only building community here in the city of Lincoln, but also restoring what appears to be a lost sense of community among the people who live here.

As I continued to move through the Farmers’ Market, I noticed more and more examples of this “family” atmosphere. As I walked by the tents filled with food, I overheard some of the customers referring to the vendors by name and just having casual conversations with them. “Hey Jerry, how’s production going so far this year? You got plans for the winter?”

“Oh it’s been going pretty good. I’m not going to be doing too much this winter. I’ll just be enjoying a little time off. How about you?” These little conversations demonstrate the personal connections that people at the Farmers’ Market have with each other - it expresses that sense of community. I find that atmosphere to be so much different than my usual journeys to the store. At just a regular grocery store, you’re rarely going to overhear someone calling the cashier by name and asking them about their plans. Even if you did try to engage the cashier in conversation, he’d probably look at you like you were some kind of a freak. It’s not like that at the Farmers’ Market. It seems like you can tell by the tone of their voices whether or not they actually know each other and genuinely care about one another.

This is the kind of community that seems to be missing from Lincoln today. Everyone is always so busy now, rushing from school to work or from work to pick up the kids at day-care, that they don’t seem to have any time to just relax and shoot the breeze with their neighbors. It seems that everyone’s stress levels have skyrocketed. This can be extremely detrimental to the growth of community spirit. And though a community may be financially successful, if it lacks community spirit then it will eventually wither and die. Truly prosperous communities are founded on a mutual sense of benevolence, general goodwill, caring about your neighbors, and sharing common interests with them. If we’re too busy for any of these things, then how are we possibly going to achieve a prosperous and successful community?

I believe that Farmers’ Market is also beneficial to the city of Lincoln because it also helps people get out and get some fresh air and exercise while doing local shopping. Generally, when people go shopping for food or jewelry or other accessories that you find for sale at Farmers’ Market, they go to a grocery store or a shopping mall. They saunter around inside the mall, maybe sipping a Frappucino from the local Starbucks, while sucking in the recycled air pumped through the air conditioning system. Not so at the Farmers’ Market! At the Farmers’ Market people have to get outside and breathe air that’s redolent with the earthy scents of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. They experience an atmosphere that isn’t sanitized and structured. It’s like awakening to a world that you forgot existed.

One way that the Farmers’ Market really seems to impact Lincoln is by creating a small-town kind of feeling in an urban area. Lincoln over the last few decades has seen a lot of growth and has focused a lot on urbanization. That is a good thing, but at the same time, in order to stay connected with the community, the city of Lincoln needs to simply sit back and relax. With all of the urbanization, the meaning of the word “community” seems to have disintegrated and has been replaced with a sense of isolation and caring only about ourselves. Watching out for your own well-being is not a bad thing, but not looking out for anyone else’s well-being is a bad thing. It seems that we need to stop our incessant striving to get ahead, and take a moment to just be who we are and connect with our fellow humankind. The Farmers’ Market is a great venue to get a wide variety of people together around a common interest so that they can connect. It’s through connecting that people can remember what the meaning of community is – not simply looking out for yourself, but for others as well.

But the Farmers’ Market can’t be the only thing that tries to connect people and get them interested in creating a sense of community once again. Each of us as individuals needs to stop and look around to see what’s beyond our realm of comfort. I know that personally, I need to take the time to just be aware of the opportunities that are out there to actually create and enhance a sense of community. They could be small things, like going to a local theatrical production instead of going to a movie. Or they could be bigger things, like getting involved in local community centers that work with diverse populations in the city. Those are ways to get connected and build community spirit. Also, bringing others along with you so that they can experience what community spirit feels like is a vital part of building a sense of community.

Even though we, as a community, seem to be struggling with our sense of connection to each other, we are still a community. Developing the economic part of our city is important, expanding our city to meet the housing demands is important, but perhaps more important is maintaining the connectivity between the citizens of Lincoln. We need to have more events like the Farmers’ Market – events which connect us to each other. If the citizens of Lincoln really want to be successful, they need to start getting the members of the community familiar with each other. If everyone works together, so much more can be accomplished.