A Market Community and What it Means
This week has been a week of great preparation. A week of planning, organizing, dreaming and creating. Yes—we are talking about The Lupine Market!
This long winter season away from the Market itself has been a time full of reflection, thought, and longing. We miss the Lupine Community more than ever, but we promise you that we are in the works to make this season another one for the books. We have learned, however, that there are always going to be bumps in the road, and bridges to cross. In our case, the bridge is being repaired, so it seems like we have to pause for some time to wait for construction or to find a detour.
Talking about COVID-19 is something that we as the creators of The Lupine Market have limited ourselves with. From the beginning, we wanted to focus on the positive. We wanted to give people a break from the bad news, the restrictions, and all that came with Covid. It is already something that we talk and hear about every single day through both media and simply by going out in public. It feels never ending and inescapable, but we must keep pushing and find purpose with where we are now.
We wanted to bring a positive to our community, a break from the craziness, and a safe place for people to shop locally. We have done our part to mitigate the spread of the virus and we will continue to do so. We are not exactly sure what this summer will look like (we really have learned how quickly things change), but we are writing this to kick off your excitement for Lupine this summer. Markets bring so much fun and goodness into our lives, and we really feel that ours is such a special one, in such a special community.
What exactly can we celebrate about markets, and specifically Lupine? Here we will highlight just how much it brings to our individual lives, to our environment and to the wellbeing of our community!
Relationship to Food
Having a market in your community means having a place to connect to the growers of your food. It means knowing where your food comes from and over time building a relationship with the grower. Eating a local diet is of course wonderful environmentally, but it is even greater than that. It is personal, it is thoughtful, and it is much much more delicious!
Supporting Local
Supporting local is something that New Brunswickers really know how to do well. Having a market in your community means supporting your neighbours families, your local economy. The products you buy are curated mostly using careful, mindful, and slow techniques to demonstrate the highest of quality.
Art
In such a small little province, we are rich in creators of all kinds. And as a small province, there are always new opportunities to grow and new ideas to blossom. With such an underrated place, comes an abundance of underrated artists and creators. Creativity and art are not so sparse for our small little province! It is all over, and we have lots of those wonderful makers at our market.
Relationship to Community
Being a regular market go-er means building relationships with other market go-ers, as well as with the vendors themselves. It is a time where we can support one another—and not just by buying, but also by talking, being ourselves, and exchanging a simple smile (we can still recognize smiley eyes)!
Sustainability
By attending The Lupine Market, you can be sure that what you are buying from the vendors is done in an environmentally-friendly, ethical, and sustainable way. We ask our vendors to meet certain sustainability criteria so that our market go-ers can buy with confidence.
By attending your local market you are doing an environmental act, while simultaneously enjoying the benefits of fresh food, fun music, and the lively energy that markets bring. Attending Lupine makes it easier to do something we all need to do—consume locally and protect our planet. And what makes that even better is having wonderful personalities, creators, makers, and a joyful atmosphere to tie it all together.
We miss you and cannot wait to be with you again!
Be the Change,
G
There is much much more to The Lupine Market then just this. The Lupine Market is Hampton’s slow centred, eco-conscious, love abundant, lively market held Friday evenings in the Hampton Pavilion throughout our longer summers.
Looking forward to this market season? We are too. More than ever! Make sure to stay up to date, by following our Instagram and Facebook pages and keep your notifications for the account on to be the first to know all of the updates. This year, we are hoping to have more market nights then the last, although we will not yet spoil the dates yet until we are completely sure!