It’s October and a time when the festivities kick off in Goa, the start to a tourist and wedding season and a whole bunch of festivities. Post the early Swacch Bharat cleaning in schools, colleges and government offices, the 2nd edition of the Goan Farmers Market is just opening its gates at 4pm sharp for all those eager to be there. A successful first edition in May had the organizers decide on holding a second edition but the question is what the Goan Farmers Market concept all about is?
Housed in a backyard of a Heritage Home located besides the Civil Court, Margao, an entire family has decided to come together to create this platform and connect with farmers and others who extract juices, squashes, oil at home and who grind masalas and chutneys and also those who bake and cook in their homes, only to have people network and consume local.
A brainchild of Anne Viegas, a Navelim based banker who quit her successful profession and headed to Mumbai to associate herself with the Teach for India programme. In Mumbai she works with kids of government owned schools and who have no access to great infrastructure and private schools but Anne who’s constantly connected with her roots keeps traveling to Goa to coordinate the Goan Farmers market and it’s all made possible by her entire family and extended family that toil to make these fun evenings.
Cold pressed coconut oil, spinach, veggies, gourds, cakes, cupcakes, Portuguese savories and bakes like the empadinhas, Pomelos, pineapples, graviola, quail eggs, juices and Goan sweets is an array of items on display through various stalls put up by many Goan farmers and their families.
Anne a banker turned educator who curates the Goan Farmers Markets has a family that includes HR professionals, engineers, management experts, children educators and others from the hospitality field, come together at the market to create a corner for families to come with their kids wherein the kids hangout and be involved in activities while their parents find a local spot to shop local, a breath of fresh air from the usual supermarket and packed food shopping which is filled with pesticide and preservatives.
“We got a very good response for our second edition. People are excited by the concept and queries are still pouring in, two editions later, a usual question asked is when the next market is. All the farm produce sold out quickly on both occasions. We tried to cater to everyone’s needs and hence there was a home-made confectionery stall, caricature artist and a live grill. We plan to have more entertainment at future markets,” said organizer Anne Viegas. Anne and her family have also been on the learning curve of visiting similar such pop-up markets across Goa and have also had a first-hand experience of such markets in Pune. The family is also looking to work with the local government to have a professional setup in place and hopes to go a long way with their concept. As of now the family is just happy and excited and see other families go home with local goodies fresh from the farm while their concept is growing step by step.
