Dear friends,
The cornerstone of the Napa Farmers Market mission is to cultivate an inclusive place for our whole community to gather and purchase farm-fresh, sustainably grown produce, specialty foods, and artisan goods directly from the source. We as an organization are dedicated to growing a place where all people feel welcome, safe, and a sense of belonging.
Our market is a thriving “third place”, meaning a social surrounding that is separate from the home (“first place”) and the workplace (“second place”). What makes our third place unique is the broad spectrum of people gathering at the Napa Farmers Market around the shared love of fresh, local food. This means Napa neighbors and tourists, customers with low-income and top chefs, liberals and conservatives mix, interact, and can all feel a sense of place.
Recently, Napa has experienced hateful acts in our community. The LGBTQ Connection logo on the “welcome to Napa” sign on Soscol Avenue was vandalized multiple times. The person responsible has been charged and pled no contest. Flyers with antisemitic rhetoric and links to a white supremacist group were discovered in Napa neighborhoods. These incidents are still under investigation.
While these examples are deeply disturbing and blatantly audacious, in our everyday lives harmful and hateful speech can be more insidious. Most people feel extremely uncomfortable speaking up when they overhear or are on the receiving end of inappropriate or discriminatory comments. If they do have the courage to call the other person in, a common response is, “I was just joking.” For the record, from micro to macro, these types of behavior and language are not welcome at the Napa Farmers Market. That’s just not what we do here.
The Napa Farmers Market is an anti-racist organization that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging of our whole community. As an organization we will stand up against racism, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, transphobia, ageism, classism, antisemitism, and other types of hate.
We are joining voices with fellow organizations, elected officials, and community members to speak out against hate in our community in a statement unanimously approved by our board of directors and management staff.
Thank you for helping us grow a thriving third place at the Napa Farmers Market,
Cara Mae Wooledge, MPH (she/her/ella)
Executive Director
