The Farmers Markets in Arlington have a rich history going back to the establishment of the first market at Courthouse parking lot in 1979. Kimberly Haun, just retired as Arlington County Urban Agriculture Coordinator, says the first market was established by Ellen Bozman who was Chair of the Arlington County Board and “ahead of her time with many of her initiatives in the county.” The markets have grown to eight spread all over the county with differing days and hours. The markets include some of the same vendors but also some unique booths, and each has a personality.

In her position. Haun served as the liaison to the farmers markets. She says in the beginning many of the markets were cooperatives with the Virginia Extension Service. But in 2007 Virginia Extension said it was no longer their mission so the County put out bids to nonprofits. The Courthouse Market is up for bid every five years.

Next the Arlington Business Improvement Districts got involved because these organizations such as Crystal City, Rosslyn, Ballston, the Clarendon Alliance and Columbia Pike wanted markets in their neighborhoods. Now, she says, a couple of big players are involved with Fresh Farm running some markets in the area and Field to Table managing four markets.

Arlington markets are neighborhood oriented. “Fairlington is right behind the Community Center, and most people are walking to that market. There are families and lots of kids. In contrast, Courthouse is a very urban market and we have to lure the customers from the surrounding high rises where they may not wake up until the market is over.”

Haun says Courthouse is a big market with thousands of people every Saturday who are in and out every 15 minutes. “They do a couple of million dollars worth of business every week.” She says younger people are interested in where their food is sourced from but it doesn’t necessarily mean they want to cook it. “You can see more interest in prepared food at the markets.”

Haun says there are rules for markets with exceptions made for things like coffee that couldn’t be produced locally but not to become a food truck; it’s easy to slip that way. She explains in order to have a stand at the market you have to be a producer which means a grower. If it is a bakery, it means the products have to be prepared locally and buy the fruit they use from local producers. 

Working at the markets is often a family business. Ana’s Twist has a stand at several of the markets where she features traditional Ecuadorian specialities; the menu is based on their family business in Ecuador before they came to the U.S. eight years ago. Ana’s 13-year-old daughter, Keyla Lafebre works with her in the markets filling in when she needs help. “I was literally born into the business because they started it the year I was born in Ecuador. Keyla has been tagging along to the market with Anna since she was barely high enough to reach the table and is now running the stand at Lubber Run.

Ana has branched out to add gluten-free empanadas such as spinach and feta or pulled pork and then vegan empanadas to the basic chicken or ground beef recipe. “They like the gluten-free version because the corn flour makes them a little crispy on the outside,” Keyla says. Every year Anna tries new soups with the sweet potato added this year.

Richard Dooley and his wife, Lisa Larimer, and their two daughters manage the Baguette Republic booths at two markets on Saturday. The oldest daughter, Ariel, has been running the booth at Lubber Run for four years with support from her mother, and Ciara has been running the booth at Cherrydale with the help of her father. Now with Ariel off at college and Ciara busy with senior year of high school, Richard and Lisa are running Lubber Run together this year. Richard says, “Our family enjoys bringing the community together and sees the farmers markets as great venues to make that happen.”

A husband and wife team, Megan and Gregory operate their Inner Loop coffee at Cherrydale on Saturday and Westover on Sunday while grandma and grandpa take care of the two kids at home. They offer a variety of home roasted beans including their Beltway Blend, Mountain from Rwanda and La Pastor from Costa Rica. After years of research and experimentation, they purchased their first roaster in 2019, and their business was born.

Haun remembers in the early days local restaurants would come to the markets to buy fresh produce but now they have established a relationship with the farmer and can buy what they need directly. Markets go up and down over time. The market in the Marymount University parking lot closed during Covid because the university couldn’t close the campus for the students and leave it open for the community to come to the market. But business really increased at all the other markets according to Haun because people didn’t want to shop inside and they were able to work with the county to keep the markets open with restrictions in place.

After the market day is over Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) comes by and works with vendors directly to glean leftover produce that hasn’t sold that day. “It’s good for farmers who find it’s not always worth it to pack up their leftover produce and take it back home and they also get a tax deduction.”

Steven Cunningham, manager of the Cherrydale market says he thinks people come to the market because they like good food from the vendors who are required to be within a 125 miles radius so the food is freshly picked. “I also think people come to the market because it is a social experience where people can see their neighbors, chat with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, listen to some music and let your kids tear around for a while, then go home with a smile on your face.” 

Haun concludes, “The Virginia food scene is amazing. Agriculture is the number one industry in Virginia. Farmers markets are a really good place for the urban and rural parts of the state to interact and get to know each other.”

Arlington Farmers Markets

Courthouse Farmers Market

Saturday 8 am-noon

1400 N Courthouse Rd.

Ballston Farmers Market

Thursday 3-7 pm

9-1 N. Taylor Street

Cherrydale Farmers Market

Saturday 8 am-noon

4100 Vacation Lane

Columbia Pike Farmers Market

Sunday 9 am-noon

Pike Park

Fairlington Farmers Market

Sunday 9 am-1 pm

Fairlington Community Center

Lubber Run Farmers market

Saturday 8 am-noon

4401 N. Henderson

Rosslyn Farmers Market

Wednesday 3-7 pm

1800 N Lynn

Westover Farmers Market

Sunday 8 am-noon

1644 N. McKinley