Fresh off the farm: Consumers have many options to procure their milk and produce

With many people quarantining at home and eschewing going to the grocery store in favor of home delivery, Wade’s Dairy, located at 1316 Barnum Avenue in Bridgeport, has revived its milk delivery service, which in the late 1950s went to 3,000 customers in Connecticut. Since Wade’s restarted the tradition in mid-March, at the onset of the coronavirus, 260 new households have signed up for the service, which delivers dairy and other food products directly to your front door. Deliveries to Darien, New Canaan, Greenwich, Weston, Wilton, Westport, Fairfield, Trumbull, Shelton, Milford, and Monroe, among others, are available on a particular day each week. “We delivered milk for 100 years until 1992, when we had just 240 customers,” says Doug Wade, CEO and one of the third generation of owners of the family business.

Customers can order an array of milk brands, including flavored dairy, oat, and almond milks, as well as organic selections, plus cream, butter, eggs, cheese,yogurt, juice, iced tea, pasta, meats, baked goods, and a wide variety of other food products. “Chocolate milk is particularly popular,” Wade reports.

For information about the delivery service, call 203-579-9233 or visit wadesdairy.com.

New Canaan Farmers Market

“Going to the grocery store is a chore; going to a farmers’ market, however, is fun,” says Dawn Allen, a volunteer at the New Canaan Farmers Market. “I think it’s important for customers to recognize they’re still voting with their dollars by choosing to go to the farmers’ market.”

The market opened on May 9 and will close in December. Currently, the market is operating on a “drive-thru” model: “Customers preorder all of their goods, and then preregister for their time slots,” Allen explains. Time slots are 20 minutes, and customers are given a map; then they drive through the market and pick up their items from the various vendors.

At press time, there were plans, once town officials had approved them, for customers to preregister for a walk through time slot to prevent a rush of shoppers at the same time.

Currently, there are 20 vendors selling everything from produce, flowers and herbs, specialty foods, meats, eggs, cheese, baked goods, granola, and more.

“Knowing the farmer who grew your food is really powerful,” Allen states. “You get to meet the people whose lives are affected by the choices that you make, and you show your support to vendors and their employees, other businesses, and communities.”

For New Canaan Farmers Market, Old Center School lot, South Avenue/Maple Street/Main Street, New Canaan, the hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, visit newcanaanfarmersmarket.net.

Westport Farmers’ Market

Pickup and delivery options at the Westport Farmers’ Market supply customers with an array of in season verdant greens, among freshly picked vegetables from four local farms, milk, cheese, and baked goods from local farms and purveyors. “There’s a lot that’s special about buying the food your family eats from a farmers’ market,” says Lori L. Cochran-Dougall, the market’s executive director. She lauded the robust support of both the Town of Westport and surrounding communities for supporting the operation running as a “drive-thru” model, which is how it was still running at press time.

Looking back over the past two months, Cochran-Dougall notes, “We need to take a step back and look at these small farmers and mom and pop businesses; it always goes back to agriculture, and farms and farmers. Farmers’ markets have been a crucial element, and we will go above and beyond the recommended COVID-19 safety guidelines.”

Things have been running smoothly so far, although, “We miss our shoppers,” Cochran-Dougall says. Key to the operation is being able to support local farms and businesses while providing fresh, healthy food to their consumers.

“One of the biggest priorities is we are creating enough for the farmer to survive … between 30 to 40 percent of all small farmers will go bankrupt this year.”

What else does the market offer? Plenty of greens, peas and asparagus, right now, and rhubarb is starting to come. Soon there will be more greens, according to Cochran-Dougall. “People are ready now for peppers, cucumbers, and radishes. We have a late growing season,” she says. “We’re not going to see fruit until late June and early July, once we get a lot of warm weather.”

Westport Farmers’ Market is held at 50 Imperial Avenue, Westport, and is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At press time, orders were taken online only at westportfarmersmarket.com.

Wakeman Town Farm Sustainability Center

Christy Colasurdo, events director for Westport-based Wakeman Town Farm Sustainability Center, says a big summer kickoff for the nonprofit organic demonstration and community farm would have been its fundraiser around Father’s Day, but not this year.

“It’s one of a variety of perennial events people in town look forward to,” she says. “We’re a small, grassroots-powered farm. We make money that we need to keep the lights on, keep the animals fed, and pay the vet bills. We rent out a nice kitchen and party space. It is a hard time for this.”

The farm, located at 134 Cross Highway, is a model facility created to educate the community with local healthy food production, responsible land stewardship, sustainable practices, and community service orientation.

Still, despite the challenges, the Westport farm has come up with engaging programs to run online. “We have been doing homesteading videos, addressing topics such as starting your own vegetable garden to making your own compost,” says Colasurdo, who maintains a bright focus and encourages children and adults to enjoy some of the small programs on the farm’s website and Facebook page for now until the farm is able to open again.

June events would ordinarily include a honeybee garden and family fun day in July, which typically attracts several hundred visitors. Knowing these events could not be planned, the farm shifted its focus to charity; there has been a massive volunteer-driven special care packaging drive for Homes for Hope and Westport’s human services department.

The farm, which is owned by the Town of Westport, ordinarily offers outdoor and cooking camps, classes in canning, honey bee raising, raising chickens, and composting for all ages, among other programs.

“We have thousands of people coming through the farm every year,” Colsasurdo says. “In the spring there would normally be educational programs for elementary school and preschool students, as well as for kids from middle and high schools and children from underserved areas, such as Bridgeport, where they might not have access to green spaces and farms … they can come here to get to see animal care up close and personal.” Currently, the farm is home to alpaca, sheep, and goats.

Call 203-557-6914 or visit wakemantownfarm.org for more details.