Spartanburg's Farmers Market new management upped the ante

Hub City Farmers Market is under new management.

Managers say more is involved than a play on words.

PAL (Play, Advocate, Live, Well) announced on July 2 that it is leading operations of the market, located in Spartanburg’s Northside community.

Formerly known as Partners for Active Living, PAL (Play, Advocate, Live Well) promotes physical activity and healthy eating as avenues to individual wellbeing and improved community health.

“Bringing the Hub City Farmers Market into the PAL organization helps us to expand our role and reach in the community,” said Laura Ringo, executive director of PAL. “We are excited to create Spartanburg’s one-stop shop for health and wellness promotion in our community.”

The Hub City Farmers Market was founded 20 years ago. It first opened at the Magnolia Street train depot before moving to its current home at 498 Howard St.

The market supports vendors who sell a wide range of products, including local produce and meats, as well as baked goods, soaps, and handmade pottery.

The Hub City Farmers Market’s parent nonprofit was called Hub City Roots. That organization’s board chair, Carmeisha White, said the transition was “an opportunity to elevate our work.”

She added, “We didn’t want to compete for resources. There was so much opportunity for alignment, and it made sense to work together.”

White, who serves as director of operations for the Northside Development Group, has joined the PAL board along with two other Hub City Roots trustees, Michael Judice and Marquice Clark.

Judice is an architect with McMillan Pazdan Smith.

Clark is the principal of the Cleveland Academy of Leadership, an elementary school situated on the North Side.

Founded in 2003, PAL has been a leading advocate for Spartanburg’s parks and trails, including the 55-mile Daniel Morgan Trail System.

The organization has also become involved in the push to provide local, fresh food options for community members.

The PAL Food Hub is a program that enables City of Spartanburg residents to make online orders of regional produce and meats for pickup or delivery.

“We’re really hoping to build on the PAL Food Hub through this partnership,” Ringo said.

Ringo added that she hopes PAL and the Hub City Farmers Market will strengthen relationships with other local efforts such as the Landrum Farmers Market and the monthly Fretwell Market.

“We want to be part of the bigger conversation about getting local products out to the community,” she said.