COASTE | COMMUNITY
fivemarkets inLeeCounty—Sanibel Island, Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, Fenway South and Lakes Park — Local Roots LLC is the largest organizer and promoter of farmer’s markets in Southwest Florida. And it all started with a six-week experiment on Sanibel six years ago.
in the restaurant industry) approached Baer — a realtor at the time, but a former director of recreation at South Seas Island Resort for 15 years and professional event planner — about the idea of a farmer’s market on a barrier island. With the help of Tahitian Gardens
“I grew up in the mountains of Virginia surrounded by farms and fresh vegetables, and it’s just important to me to me that I have that kind of food for my family. We didn’t have that on Sanibel.”
“Visiting farmer’s markets has been something of a passion for me for manyyears,”Ventura says. “I grew up in the mountains of Virginia surrounded by farms and fresh vegetables, and it’s
(a retail center on Sanibel), the first Sanibel Farmer’s Market launched in the center’s parking lot on a Sunday morning in 2008. Permitted for only six weeks, the market was such a success
just important to me that I have that kind of food for my family. We didn’t have that on Sanibel.”
that Sanibel city officials granted Local Roots a six-month permit the following year. But it wasn’t until 2010, when the city allowed the market to move to the Sanibel city hall and library grounds, that the vision
It was then that Ventura (with a background
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