Local News

Mushroom Legislation...

Continued from Page 1A stopped his work to make a small repair to one of Savoir Chair’s pieces of furniture.

Continued from Page 1A

“The Kennett Square Clover Market is everything we expected it would be, and even more,” Crnic said. “Jodie and I had previously heard that the Kennett Square community was amazing, and we thought that this would be a wonderful opportunity. Everyone is super-friendly and there is a great vibe. When we first founded Savoir Chair in 2021, our goal was to open our business at a Clover Market event, and [Clover Market founder] Janet Gardner Long made it happen for us.”

“The thing I love about bringing the Clover Market to Kennett Square is that this is a community that comes out to support events, whether it is Clover Market or the Mushroom Festival or the Kennett Brewfest or the Kennett Summerfest,” Long said. “For us, we know that we can count on people supporting our vendors.”

To Long, who founded Clover Market in 2010, vendors like Farrow and Crnic from outside the Brandywine Valley add singular pieces of fabric to the rich canopy of local artisans, and regularly travel to shows from as far away as Virginia and Maine.

“This area is just teeming with artisans, and it is this richness that makes my job wonderful, because it allows me to draw from so many people from nearby and combine them with vendors like Meggie and Jodie who travel to our events,” she said. “This diversity allows vendors to develop friendships with each other. We work hard to cultivate an artistic community that is kind, helpful and collaborative, and happy to be among other like-minded artisans.”

Jodie Farrow and Meggie Crnic of Savoir Chair.

Savoir Chair was far from the only vendor who traveled a distance to appear at the June 4 Clover Market in Kennett Square. Lisa Meyer of Kabyco Designs traveled from Biddeford, Maine.

“I have worked with many curators in my 16 years in business, but Janet is incredible,” Meyer said.

“She organizes a fantastic market that is fun and well worth the seven-hour trip it took me to get here.”

Clover Market vendor

Jessica Fields drove more than one hour from her home in Warrington, Pa., where she has owned Seven Pines Apothecary for the past four years.

“I was a vendor at the Clover Market in Bryn Mawr last year, and I found it to be a very well-run market,” said Fields, who in addition to being a licensed

Malena massage therapist makes all-natural aromatherapy products. “They always draw great crowds, who all seem to place the next Clover Market on their calendars. I have already applied to come back here in Kennett Square this fall.”

Upcoming Clover Market events will be held on Sept. 10 in Chestnut Hill, Pa., on Sept. 24 in Collingswood, N.J., on Oct. 8 in Bryn Mawr and will wrap up its 2023 season with a return to Kennett Square on Oct. 22.

To learn more, visit www. theclovermarket.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.

Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Dan Meuser (R-PA).

This study represents a first step toward providing federally-backed crop insurance to mushroom farmers, the implementation of which would have a significant impact on Chester County, where the economic footprint of the mushroom industry exceeds $1.1 billion annually.

“The Farm Bill needs to work better for specialty crop producers,” Sen. Fetteerman said. “We have a successful crop insurance system for commodity crops, but it's time we open crop insurance to more farmers. It’s just common sense that mushroom farmers need to be covered under relevant crop insurance regulations. Mushrooms are one of Pennsylvania’s most storied and critical crops, and the hardworking farmers in this industry deserve that coverage.”

“Chester County farmers grow 60 percent of all mushrooms produced in the United States and mushroom farming employs more than 9,400 in Pennsylvania, yet these farmers can’t access the same insurance policies many other agricultural producers have,” said Sen. Casey. “The Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act will begin to level the playing field for Pennsylvania mushroom farmers by creating solutions to protect their livelihood from unavoidable damage.”

Rep. Houlahan said that during her visits to mushroom farms throughout Chester County, the farmers she speaks with discuss the many ecological impacts on their ability to cultivate their crop, such as the Phorid fly and the Sciarid fly that carry fungal pathogens that are capable of destroying entire crops.

The Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act is the first step in the process to ensure our farmers are protected when they encounter these unforeseen dangers, and offering this much needed assurance that their businesses are secure,” Rep. Houlahan said. “Many of these farms have been passed down through generations of single families, and we must ensure they have the protection they need continue to contribute so much to our food systems and agricultural economy.”

“The biome of cultivated mushrooms and the ecosystem of upwards of 30 other agricultural byproducts used to grow them is unlike any other specialty crop,” said Rachel Roberts, president of the Avondalebased American Mushroom Institute. “Mushroom farmers across the country endure specific challenges to grow the mushrooms we consume. Mushrooms have unique growing characteristics as well as pesticide, fungal and viral threats that only fungi are vulnerable to. To survive on razor-thin margins, mushroom growers are improving efficiencies and seeking a fair share of what support mushroom farms, like so many other crops and sectors, can receive with USDA’s help.

“Too perishable to be imported or exported overseas, U.S. mushrooms are produced in the U.S. Supporting the farmers who grow them for the consumers who thrive off them is of critical importance to the future.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.