Farm to Table

Mission Statement:

Caroline's Market is the last piece to the Caroline's trifecta, fullfilling the desire to make farm-to-table food accessible for more people on the Eastern Shore. Caroline’s Market Corp (CMC) was formed as a non-profit organization to create and manage a farmers’ market for the mid shore region of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Our mission is to aggregate goods from local farmers and producers in one central area and make those goods available to local residents, visitors, and travelers to and through the mid shore.  

Statement of Need:

There are numerous small to mid-size farmers that struggle with access to markets and customers. It is not cost efficient to deliver small orders to restaurants and families, and it is difficult for many to pick up goods from individual farms scattered over the mid shore area. Surprisingly there are local residents that find it difficult to access local fresh food despite being in the middle of an agricultural area.  We will be creating a regional market conveniently located in a historic carriage house in the middle of the mid-shore in downtown Denton, MD. We are seeking grant funding to help with the restoration of this historic building to make it suitable for a long-term, year-round market space. In addition to local farmers, we will open space as available to local crafts and other locally produced food items. It is our intent to encourage local CSA’s to offer pick up at Caroline’s Market and be able to process SNAP payments. In addition, we will coordinate with local food banks and shelters for placement of excess food.

Scope of work:

The scope of work to upgrade the carriage house will include: pouring a concrete floor and building a solid foundation, raising the existing structure during this process and then reinstalling on the new foundation, appropriate doors and access to the structure will be installed, existing electrical will be upgraded to allow individual stalls to have electricity and coolers, lighting will be installed, an exterior stairwell will be constructed to allow for access to storage on the second floor, the exterior of the structure will be painted to match the existing red barn color. The roof does not need work as it was upgraded within the past 10 years and is in good shape. Exterior to the structure we will need to pour a concrete pad for walk-in refrigeration and freezer space. Engineering, architecture, and permits will be needed to do the described upgrades will need to be done before construction starts.

Summary:

We are collecting estimates to do the rehabilitation and repurposing work on the carriage house and have relationships with a dozen farmers at present from Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, and Queen Anne’s counties. Each week we hear of more interested farmers. With appropriate funding in place, we plan to be open for the 2024 market season.