It is entirely appropriate to take a moment or two out of March Madness to appreciate a frenzy of activity of a different kind.
Just a short drive out Jones Ferry, Old Greensboro, N.C. 54 or Mount Carmel, there are people hard at work nurturing seedlings, weeding through coldframes, getting crops in the field and preparing the land for another rotation.
It’s appropriate to think about this because this state’s obsession with the game of basketball owes a great deal to its farmers. As historian Alvis Dunn has pointed out, it was the farm-to-market road program—a post-war effort to improve highways and secondary roads to help farmers get their products to markets in the cities and town—that made it easier for high school teams from rural communities to travel and compete. Unlike baseball and football, the winter-season sport of hoops was a better match for the rhythm of rural life. The roads program coincided with another statewide program to help schools build gyms. Throw into the mix the post-war influx of high-octane college coaching from Everett Case, Frank McGuire and Vic Bubas and you can understand why there are few places in the world where the countryside is more dotted with rims and backboards.
Now, as one season heads to a close another revs up and it’s time to support that team as well. Starting Saturday, you’ll have a weekly opportunity to do just that as the Carrboro Farmers’ Market opens for the season. From the volunteers and staff who make it tick to the farmers and crews working the land, our market is a living model of the importance of the ties between urban and rural. The produce in the bins traveled only a short distance. The commerce it generates and the pay for the crews stays—for the most part—in the community. At the high point of its season, when events like tomato tastings, gardening programs for children and live music are in abundance, the market is the social center of town. And who isn’t inspired by the fruits of our farmers’ labor to scratch out a patch of their own just to see what comes up?
The market is also a reminder of what can happen when a community pulls together. It took dedication, a bit of luck and a lot of volunteer hours to win the funds that built the market. To make it a success, it also took a community that cares about where its food comes from and a collective appetite for healthy and adventurous foods.