SWEET BEET MARKET MORE THAN JUST VEGGIES

BRADFORD MARKET SUPPORTS THE COMMUNITY THROUGH ACCESS TO AND EDUCATION ABOUT HYPERLOCAL PRODUCE

IIn 2015, five young folks and one retired teacher had a vision for what a community could be, centered around a “restorative local food system” and using community outreach and the promotion of economic and environmental viability to help their community flourish into the fullest expression of itself. Out of that vision, Sweet Beet Market was born.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Hanna Flanders is the co-founder of the Kearsarge Food Hub, a nonprofit organization that takes a multifaceted approach to strengthening the local food system and community. Sweet Beet Market is one branch of that hub and began life as Sweet Beet Farm Stand on route 114 in Bradford. After college, Hanna returned to the Kearsarge area where she grew up and, along with three classmates from Kearsarge High School and two other visionaries, was motivated to bring to fruition some core beliefs about how best to serve a community. “How we grow and distribute and share food is a great opportunity to solve so many problems,” says Hanna. “How we use land, how we connect to each other, how a community can become more resilient, how we can work on social justice issues. It’s all really connected to our food. So, we came back home and wanted to strengthen our local food system however we could.” The farm stand was supplied by the farm Hanna and her teammates started, where they learned how to grow food in responsible, sustainable ways. They connected with other local farmers to bring their products into the farm stand along with what the Sweet Beet farm was growing. The farm stand offered not only fruits and vegetables but also meat, dairy products and eggs, maple syrup and honey, “and all the great things being produced locally.” While the Sweet Beet team was learning about farming and running a business, the project supported the surrounding agricultural community by providing a new market outlet; it was also an attempt to gauge the interest in the community for their ideas. After a couple of years, Sweet Beet Farm Stand was offered the opportunity to expand from a seasonal farm stand to a year-round market. Local company Unless, LLC had recently purchased the old Bradford Inn at 11 West Main Street and wanted to renovate it into something that would serve the community. Owners Mike Bauer and Mike James invited the Sweet Beet crew to move their business into the inn. This bigger, indoor space gave them the opening to act on some of their larger ambitions. The Sweet Beet team did a community fundraiser and built a commercial kitchen, then grew their farm from a few plots of land spread throughout Bradford to a single location. Sweet Beet Market opened in 2017, and in 2018 the business registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

WHAT IS “HYPERLOCAL”? The market offers vegetables and fruits from 20 “hyperlocal”—meaning within 30 miles—produce farms, plus eggs and meat from hyperlocal smallscale producers. “Small-scale meat production is something we feel really strongly is an important part of a sustainable food system,” says Hanna. Sweet Beet Market has a lot more on offer than visitors to the store might guess at first glance. They’re “more than veggies,” as Hanna likes to say. Shoppers can find staple New Hampshire items such as local maple syrup, honey, and jam. Also on offer are a great book selection on recipes, seasonal eating advice, and farming how-tos; local handmade jewelry; and mugs featuring the Sweet Beet logo made by Bradford artist Susan Moss. To round out their offerings, Sweet Beet Market works directly with 70 producers throughout New

Hampshire to provide a variety of lightly processed food items. They get items such as pickled goods and spicy hot sauces from Genuine Local in Meredith. They receive regular deliveries of seafood from local fishermen cooperative NH Community Seafood as well as natural and specialty foods from a regional wholesaler. Minimal-ingredient baked goods come fresh from their own kitchen and area bakers such as Blue Loon Bakery and Orchard Hill Breadworks. Working with Food Connects, a food hub based in Brattleboro, Vermont, allows Sweet Beet to source fresh produce from the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts. High-tunnel growing and the slightly longer growing season of southern New England bring fresh produce to Sweet Beet throughout the year. To make the market as much of a one-stop shop as possible, Sweet Beet sells sustainable home goods such as bamboo utensils, cleaning products and supplies, and metal straws and food storage containers. With time-strapped modern shoppers in mind, they offer grocery items like frozen pizza and pizza shells, pasta sauces, and prepared meals that you can simply pop in the oven.

NOURISHING MINDS AS WELL AS BODIES One of the most critical parts of the Kearsarge Food Hub’s mission is to educate the community about aspects of food production, farming, sustainability, and more. As part of that mission, they organize trips to the farm for students from first grade up through college. They will also visit classrooms to “talk about where food comes from, how to connect with your food, how to grow food,” says Hanna. “One of our outcomes that we’re hoping for is producing more farmers.”

CONNECTING THROUGH CONFLICT The journey Sweet Beet embarked on almost six years ago has brought them a long way, but it hasn’t been without pushback. Bradford has a population that spans the socioeconomic spectrum, and Sweet Beet Market has always had the aim to serve the community as a whole—to serve the whole range of consumers in their region. “We believe strongly that conflict can be a great way to connect,” says Hanna. “And there is a lot of conflict around how to develop in town. Some people want to redo the sidewalks and revitalize the buildings and attract more young people and visitors, while others are pushing back on that type of change. What we’re trying to do with our message is try to figure out how there can be a place for everybody. Inclusivity is a huge value of ours.” For example, while they are strong supporters of organic practices, Sweet Beet doesn’t offer exclusively organic produce. They accept products from organic farms and farms that follow conventional farming practices alike. “We like our customers to choose,” notes Hanna. “It’s not just black and white. We’re all coming to the table with a variety of concerns. And we’re all valid in our concerns.” “What we’re hoping to do is to demonstrate that the need to eat is the thing that unifies us, across all those different needs. We can find a pathway to come together. We all just need to eat.” 

Sweet Beet Market 11 West Main Street Bradford, NH (603) 938-5323 sweetbeetmarket.com