Mission
Our mission is to extend the farmers’ market season and increase the availability of fresh produce and other local products throughout the four seasons of the year. We seek to encourage direct contact between producer and consumer and increase understanding of local food economy issues. We strive to produce and provide the greatest possible variety of local foods while working together in a cooperative atmosphere to ensure the success of the market.
History
The Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market (BWFM) was founded by a small group of farmers with financial support from Slow Foods in 2005. In the first year, the market was only 4 weeks long. With the passing seasons, and a demand and need for a longer winter market, the number of weeks the market was offered in the winter grew until it ran every Saturday December through March. At its inception the BWFM hosted 18 vendors, some still vend at our market 16 years later. The BWFM resided at Harmony School from 2005 through the spring of 2019, and moved to the Switchyard Park pavilion at the beginning of the 2019-2020 winter market season. The BWFM was under the auspices of the LGG from 2007-2013 and from 2013-2019 it was a project of the Center for Sustainable Living. In 2019, the BWFM became an independent non-profit organization.
During the summer of 2020, the BWFM Board of Directors (BOD) started the Woolery Farmers' Market, which met a need in the community during a time of change for our local farmers' markets. In December 2024, the BOD decided that the Woolery Market had served it's purpose and, due to declining attendance and revenue, the Woolery Farmers' Market was permanently closed.