About the Market
The Davidson Farmer’s Market (DFM) is a grassroots effort that began when a number of citizens independently contacted Kate MacIntyre, the late Director of Downtown Davidson Inc. in the spring of 2007, asking if there were any plans in Davidson’s future for a market.
Kate set up a meeting, the conversation started, and it has grown exponentially from there.
In December 2007, the market partnered with Downtown Davidson Inc. to share its 501(c)(3) status, so that DFM could apply for grant funding, solicit donations and seek partnerships as a nonprofit organization. With the restructuring of Downtown Davidson, Inc. in the Spring of 2009 and and plans to move forward to seek its own 501(c)(3) status, the Davidson Farmer’s Market made a move to temporarily operate under the auspices of the Davidson Lands Conservancy.
The Mission of the Davidson Farmer’s Market is:
The mission of Davidson Farmer’s Market is to sponsor a weekly farmer’s market in Davidson which provides locally grown food, educates the public about nutrition and the importance of eating locally grown foods and offers musical entertainment, special events and cooking and other demonstrations to create a community festival for the Town. DFM’s goal is to create a vibrant community gathering place with locally grown agricultural and horticultural products and family-friendly educational, musical and entertainment activities.
The market offers locally grown fruits and vegetables, meats, and cheeses produced by sustainable or organic methods when possible. Other agriculturally based products such as breads, flowers and soaps are also offered.
We believe a farmer’s market in Davidson will:
- Bring people together
- Provide healthy, affordable, accessible local food
- Educate citizens about the benefits of locally grown food, sustainable gardening techniques and resource conservation
- Support the local economy
- Keep local farmers in business and protect open green spaces
- Meet a need for local food sources
- Encourage walking and biking in Davidson
- Promote an environmentally sustainable local food system
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Market Manager – Mary Jane Leach With a work and educational background in nonprofit and public administration, Mary Jane also farmed field grown cut flowers and sold to florists and farmer’s markets in the Asheville area for three years. She has worked part time in the retail health food industry for the last five years while raising her two children. Her interest in the farmer’s market is to increase the availability of healthy food and promote a successful local farming economy. Mary Jane, her husband and two young children moved to Davidson in June of 2006. [back to top]
Organizing Committee Member Bios
Carol Harris Mayes is Chair of the DFM and has more than twenty-five years of professional experience conserving natural lands, developing successful conservation programs, teaching biological and earth sciences, and raising funds for conservation. As an organizing member of the Davidson Farmer’s Market, Carol will work closely with farmers and producers. In 2001, Carol co-founded Mayes Wilson & Associates, LLC, a firm that assists organizations, agencies and individuals to increase their capacity to conserve land and waters. Highlights of her career prior to starting Mayes Wilson & Associates, LLC, include serving as The Nature Conservancy’s founding Director of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Eastern Caribbean program, and as the Director of Science and Stewardship for the North Carolina Chapter. Carol trains and lectures nationally on a variety of conservation issues and has published articles on ecological topics. [back to top]
Edie Surratt is Vice-Chair of The DFM Organizing Committee and oversees fundraising and marketing. She spent 16 years working in broadcasting, as Retail Marketing Manager for WRFX-FM and then as a New Business Director for Premiere Radio Networks. Edie also worked as a Corporate Support Representative for Classical, 89.9, WDAV. Currently, Edie is VP of Account Services with Smarthinking PR, a public relations and marketing firm based out of Chicago. She has lived in Davidson since 1993 and is married with two children. [back to top]
Kathy Pearce is treasurer of the Davidson Farmers Market. She has an MBA, 25 years as a finance executive at Xerox Corp. and six years as Executive Director of a small faith based non-profit in Rochester, NY. She has lived in Davidson with her husband and two children since September 2008.
D. Roy Alexander is the Executive Director of the Davidson Lands Conservancy and an Organizing Committee member of the Davidson Farmer’s Market. Roy graduated from Davidson College and received his Master’s from UNC-Chapel Hill. His professional background includes working as a Cooperative Extension Agent for Mecklenburg County. [back to top]
Katie Epstein is a Davidson College junior from Boston, Massachusetts. She lives in the Davidson Environmental Cooperative and has a strong interest in local food and community development. As a member of the Organizing Committee, Katie will be assisting primarily as a liaison for the students of Davidson College. [back to top]
Sandra Kragh is the Administrative Assistant in the Town of Davidson Planning Department. Along with these duties, she is working with Downtown Davidson Inc. as an interim assistant to the board. She assists the market as a liaison between the town and the market committees. Sandy and her family moved to the Davidson area in 2005 from Logansport, Indiana, where she was the Assistant Plan Director of the Logansport/Cass County Planning Department. There Sandra was actively involved in many community development projects, including Logan’s Landing, a Main Street program, the Cass County Arts Foundation, and the Family Fine Arts Festival. [back to top]
Lynn Poland teaches in the Religion Department at Davidson College and oversees the committee on entertainment. She is committed to the humane treatment of animals raised for food and supports alternatives to industrial agriculture. Students are introduced to these concerns in two of her courses at Davidson, “Religious Perspectives on Food” and “Christianity and Nature.” She is a member of Slow Food Charlotte and the Charlotte Folk Society. [back to top]
John Cock is a Town Planner employed by The Lawrence Group and heads the committee on site planning and market operations. In addition to his work with Davidson Farmer’s Market, John is a member of the town’s Greenways and Bikeways Committee and a devoted composter. He is a graduate of Davidson College and is married with three children. [back to top]
George Berger is the City of Charlotte’s Growth Corridor Manager, responsible for guiding collaborative and strategic growth initiatives among City and County departments and with the public. He is committed to a regional strategy that balances smart, sustainable growth with integrated private investment and the community values of choice, character and aesthetics–a strategy that includes the inclusion of local food systems planning at its heart. George graduated from Washington & Lee University and received his master’s degree from Auburn University. He’s a member of the Davidson Planning Board, and among other activities is involved in a local backyard food gardening effort known as “Davidson Grows.” George has lived in Davidson since 2007, is married, and has a daughter who attends Davidson Elementary. [back to top]
Kealy Devoy is the innaugural Sustainability Fellow at Davidson College. She graduated from Davidson in 2008 with a BA in Environmental Studies. She works with the guest chefs and is working on the first DFM cookbook. [back to top]