Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - 83

Karen Childress, left, will be a part of the
gathering and the freshness as the Jonesborough
Farmers Market again welcomes visitors for
in-person shopping each Saturday from May
through October.
RIGHT: The farmers market operates behind
the Jonesborough Courthouse.
KAREN CHILDRESS' 3 FAVORITE THINGS TO PICK UP AT
THE JONESBOROUGH FARMERS MARKET
Fresh eggs. " I used to keep my own chickens, but I couldn't do it. There is
nothing like fresh eggs. "
Cinnamon raisin bread. " It's from one of our bakers and it's great. "
Lettuce. " I don't like the super-fancy ones. I like buttercrunch and the ones
that are softer. I like the tender lettuce. " -NH
" It really was like, 'Wow, the world is
a big place, and I want to see more of it,' "
she recalls.
While earning her graduate degree in
public policy, she completed two community
internships-one in Whitesburg,
Kentucky, where she worked with a recycling
agency at a time when the concept
of environmental stewardship was
just taking off, the other in Costa Rica,
where she developed school curricula
focused on the importance of preserving
the rainforest.
" And I found out that's what I really
enjoyed, " she says. " I like the hands-on,
direct connection of working with community
members to solve a problem.
" Somewhere along the line while I
was traveling, " she adds, " I realized that
protecting the environment is something
that can be done everywhere. It's something
I could do in my own backyard. "
In 1993, a fellowship award enabled
her family to return to a farm property in
Greene County, Tennessee, where they
hosted a college environmental education
program. It was there that she, with
the help of several like-minded peers,
launched her first official sustainability
initiative. Looking back, Rural Resources,
a nonprofit organization that supported
farmers, was strikingly similar to Jonesborough
Locally Grown, but without the
public markets.
After a " long detour " that included
hiking the Appalachian Trail, managing
an inn in Ecuador, and traversing
South America with her husband, Larry,
Childress returned to the states to teach
Spanish in Hendersonville, then Johnson
City. The couple moved to Jonesborough
in 2001, shortly after their son
was born, and she began working as Hispanic
outreach coordinator at East Tennessee
State University College of Nursing.
Over the next few years, Childress,
her neighbor and renowned chairmaker
Curtis Buchanan, and organic farmer
Heather Halsey tossed around the idea for
a farmers market. It started small, with
interested residents congregating around
Halsey's Subaru hatchback to purchase
fresh produce.
In 2008, the Jonesborough Farmers
Market opened in the town's library parking
lot with a handful of vendors and
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 83

Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021

Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - 3
Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - 4
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Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - Cover4
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