Farmers' Market brings food, music

Every Saturday this summer from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., you can find fresh food, live music, art displays and people of every age and background at the Bloomington Community Farmers' Market.\nThe market is located next to City Hall in the Showers Common parking lot, in the heart of Bloomington. Since 1975, farmers from around the area have flocked to Bloomington in the fall, spring and summer to sell their homegrown products and take part in the diverse cultural display of the farmers’ market.\nCurtis “Cantwell” Jackson, a musician, farmer and native of the southernmost Caribbean island Trinidad, is one of the many faces that can be found at the market every weekend. Jackson went to music school in Boston and lived in New York City until a friend convinced him to move to the Bloomington area to farm with him. Jackson took his advice and now owns a farm in Ellettsville, where he and his fiance grow organic foods and flowers. Jackson plays music next to the booth where he sells his food and flowers. He said that in all his travels he has never come across a place as unique as the Bloomington’s farmers’ market.\n“When I was 24, I had been to 26 countries and never did I see a place like this (farmers’ market),” Jackson said. “It is vibrant, energetic and down to earth.”\nJackson also works as a local musician and credits his growing fan base to the people he meets at the market.\n“I have been working here for five years and I have always played my music,” Jackson said. “This is where my fan base comes from. Almost everyone that comes to my shows I know from the market.”\nArt Sherwood, 38, a native of Wisconsin, first came to Bloomington to attend IU. He owns a farm in Morgan County with a friend where they grow all certified organic vegetables, fruit and herbs. Like a lot of the farmers who work at the market, Sherwood has an alternate source of income. He is a business professor at Indiana State University in Terre Haute during the week and sells his produce in Bloomington on the weekends. Sherwood credits Bloomington’s farmers’ market for being one of the few markets that requires people to sell their own produce.\n“You need to grow your own produce and work on the farm to sell here,” Sherwood said. “It is the largest market in Indiana like that and in general there are very few markets like this around.”\nDrew Stockdale lives in Morgan County but has been coming to the farmers’ market in Bloomington for many years. Stockdale provides a unique service to the market by providing massages to the weary shoppers. He claims the people who come the farmers’ market are health conscious in their diet and lifestyle. Stockdale said he enjoys the diverse community that is seen every summer Saturday at the Showers Common.\n“I love all kinds of people,” Stockdale said. “The farmers’ market is a great cross-reference of age and socio-economic groups.”