The arrival of the Covid-19 Pandemic was negative for the farmer´s market to continue working from their physical premises, so entrepreneurs, including artisans and farmers, had to immediately adapt to online sales.
Keeping the “doors closed” was only for a certain time, because with the new normal, care between people, biosecurity, the fairs are active in the various areas of Costa Rica.
Fairs have been of great support to the communities
Among the fairs, we at TCRN want to mention Tinamastes, which works physically in the Tinamastes Community Hall, open again since March.The Tinamastes fair is the second largest organic market in the Central American country that is constantly joined by suppliers with innovative and therefore fresh products.
It was founded in the year 2013 through the Authentic Life organization, as we were exclusively informed by its creator Melissa Sweet.In this fair, its promoters have focused on supporting and promoting organic agriculture, -free of agrochemicals-, in addition to offering the freshest products to the community.
Ecoferia, a Costa Rican example
In recent days, we spoke with Keyna, who represents the Dominical Ecoferia, she emphasized that in moments like these where the economy is playing an important role, “we believe that the most important revolution we can make is that of the local economy, when we start to consume everything locally so we move forward, everything remains in the same community, that producer who grows his vegetables and then sells them to a person returns home with an authentic demeanor, since his money goes directly to products for his farm, in his family and finally, everything remains locally”.
For Keyna, it is satisfactory that they now understand much more the importance of healthy food and also continue with the initiative “free of agrochemicals”, because they know that they are, in turn creating a healthy environment for the community, “in our Ecoferia they arrive every day more families thank us for creating this type of space “.Each farmer’s fair, they are the heart of the communities, that’s where you meet your old friends and meet the new and talented.
“El Mercado”, the best for Bahía Ballena
For eight months, Natalia together with the collaboration of DeykellQuiros have been enabling El Mercado.Deykell is an artisan and has been with El Mercado since day one, both as a bidder, as well as collaborating in the Assistance Coordination in these months.
The initiative began on December 6, 2017 by three female members, seeing that in the town the spaces for local and visiting entrepreneurship were very limited or were at a long distance from each other.
The mission is to support local enterprises, providing a safe space that meets social responsibilities and is enjoyable so that the experience of buying food and that of the producer are satisfactory.
In conversations with Natalia, she told us that they decided to carry out El Mercado, because in the South Zone “we know that public transport does not have long hours and the cost can be high; we can use the communal rooms as a starting point for projects that directly benefit the localities, taking advantage of the rural tourism that is developing and supplying the community with basic necessities”.
The experience was seen on the part of Natalia, since she is a traveling artisan and lived 4 years in Mexico, where she greatly appreciated when she found a space where she could sell her art to continue undertaking and thereby contribute to the local economy.
In El Mercado, they plan to reactivate artistic presentations soon, where artists transmit their music and also the different branches of performing art, which they can offer to the public.
Where are they?
They are by the main entrance to Bahia Ballena that leads to the Marino Ballena National Park, one of the 5 most visited national parks in Costa Rica for its beauty and abundance of fauna and flora. Especially the marine fauna, with the visit of the Humpback Whales that migrate to the region between August and November (heading north from Antarctica) and from December to April (heading south from Alaska) every year.
Regarding what they offer, Natalia let us know that in their activity, people can find artisan products such as: Organic and Conventional Agricultural, Poultry, Cow, Goat and Bufala Dairy, Vegan Cheese, Sourdough Bakery, Vegan Pastry and Conventional, Seeds, Preserves, Oils, Gluten-free Flours, Condiments, Sauces, Coffee from the area, Fishmongers, Ornamental Plants, Natural Medicine, among others.
Very active
Currently, those who represent El Mercado are very happy, because the new location allows them to organize more social and entertainment activities for the community and tourism. “We are developing activities with an artistic cultural center called Piel de Naranja that teach theater, dance, photography workshops, audiovisuals and more. In this way, Kyokushin Karate and Kick Boxing classes will begin three times a week for children, adolescence and for adults. Our mission is to provide a variety of activities and start scheduling dates for everything we have planned, including the bidders who participate in El Mercado as a plus for their economic income”, they said
Really, each initiative, each fair, each representative makes a difference and if they have made great contributions to the various communities of Costa Rica, they have had a sense of belonging, which is admirable. Visit them and tell them that you are on our side …
