Whitefish Farmers’ Stand connects farmers and customers

When The Farmers' Stand owners opened the door to their market in Whitefish this summer, they wanted to provide fresh, quality food to customers, but they were also thinking more broadly about how they could help transform the food supply chain.

"We are strong believers in nutritious, local food," said Todd Ulizio, one of the partners in the grocery store. "We wanted to make local food more accessible. We wanted to provide a place to sell produce from our own farms, but we wanted to take that to the next layer by bringing other producers along from around the state and the region."

The Farmers' Stand is a partnership between Todd and Rebecca Ulizio of Two Bear Farm and Brooke Bohannon and Sean Hard of Wicked Good Farm. Over the winter, the owners began having a conversation about how they could better get local produce and products into the hands of customers.

Local farmers largely have relied on local farmers markets as a way to distribute their produce, but Ulizio points out that stopping by a farmers market held for a few hours one day a week is a challenge and not convenient for most shoppers. Wicked Good Farm had already been working to connect local farmers with restaurants to provide produce.

The partners decided to open a grocery store that would focus on regional and mostly organic produce and food products. The atmosphere is one of partnership looking for more farmers to participate and provide guidance to those who might just be starting out.

"The more farmers on the landscape that can grow food it keeps this viable," he says.

The Farmers' Stand provides opportunities for producers and farmers to sell directly to customers, thereby flipping the modern supply chain, which mostly operates around industrial farms and chain grocery stores where the customer and the grower are vastly separated.

"We're taking a stand about providing local, nutritious food," Ulizo said. "We want to have people think about the narrative around their food."

LOOKING OVER the colorful display of produce in the market, it's easy to see where the carrots or cauliflower were grown. Each item is labeled with not only the price but also which farm grew that produce. Colorful cards displayed between the produce and the refrigerated section, allow customers to learn more about the farmers and producers behind the food.

"Food has a story," Ulizio said. "You should know where your food comes from. We're doing the hard work and vetting the products for you making sure if they're not organic then they're made without any chemicals."

The market has a menu of prepared grab-and-go items based on the philosophy of providing healthy, nutritious food. The Whitefish sandwich is made with whitefish caught in Flathead Lake from Native Fish Keepers in Polson. The sandwich uses lake trout, which is an invasive species.

"That's our most popular sandwich," Ulizo noted. "You're eating an invasive species, which supports native trout recovery and conservation. That's the kind of positive story that can change habits."

Ulizo has a vision for what the Farmers' Stand could become. Here it could provide the opportunity for classes and seed exchanges, but beyond that, it could mean a similar market in any small town.

"Only time will tell," he added.

The Farmers' Stand market is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit http://thefarmersstand.com/