From 2018 to 2023, I had the privilege of managing the Jamestown Farmers Market. During that time, the market survived significant challenges, including the loss of local funding support in 2020. It continued because vendors, customers, and community members fought for it–and because St. Luke’s Episcopal Church leadership and congregational members stepped forward when they didn’t have to. For that, I and many others remain deeply grateful.

Over more than 15 years working in the local nonprofit space, I have sat in countless meetings with community leaders, elected officials, and organizational boards. Too often, I have come away disappointed by the attitudes expressed behind closed doors. As market manager, I witnessed firsthand how power and privilege shape decisions. I heard lower-income residents referred to as “those people.” I sat through conversations that suggested some community members mattered more than others.

One recurring frustration involved the market’s location. I recall requests for the market to move to Brooklyn Square; closer to the Ice Arena; to city parks. The most laughable, a request that the market move away from Third Street and back to Cherry Street for one Saturday, simply so it would be less visible during Lucy Fest. The implication was always clear: ‘optics’ mattered more than certain market customers.

The irony, of course, is that the market itself is a tourist attraction. And, not to brag, but comedian Amy Pohler once told The Post-Journal, that the market was her favorite part of the city.

More importantly, the market is one of the few truly public spaces where people from all walks of life gather together.

When I learned the market would be relocating this year, away from the block between Cherry Street and North Main Street, I wasn’t surprised. Organizers have cited shade and a more park-like atmosphere as reasons for the move. Those may be legitimate considerations. But good intentions do not erase real impacts.

The people most affected by this decision are many of the same people who have helped the market thrive.

When I became manager, the market was on its last breath. It only survived and evolved because residents of Covenant Manor and Hotel Jamestown embraced it. They shopped there every week, volunteered, spread the word, and supported local vendors. During my tenure, SNAP sales grew from roughly $5,000 annually to more than $20,000, putting thousands of dollars directly into the pockets of local farmers and small businesses.

Those residents did not support the market because they had to. They supported it because they believed in it. Because they loved it. Because they knew its value, to not only themselves but the city at large.

Many are older adults. Many live with disabilities. Many rely on walkers, wheelchairs, or limited transportation options. By moving the market farther away, even by only a couple of blocks, the market has made it less accessible to some of its most loyal supporters.

Other market decisions, including ones that have prevented participation from certain vendors and moving the event farther from businesses that greatly supported and enhanced it, have also caused disappointment.

That matters.

This is not an attack on market leadership or St. Luke’s. I have tremendous respect for the people involved and know they care deeply about the community. But caring about equity requires more than good intentions. It requires asking who benefits from our decisions–and who bears the burden.

I know that many residents are deeply affected by the move. Many feel disappointed, frustrated, and overlooked. Many cannot now access the market safely or visit and shop with vendors they have known and loved for years.

Some may think that my opinion does not matter; after all, I am not the manager anymore. And that is precisely my point. The Jamestown Farmers Market has always belonged to the community. Its success was built not by city leadership, market management, or funders alone, but by the people, vendors and customers who show up every Saturday and make it what it is.

Since my first day involved with the market, I have always considered the residents of Covenant Manor and Hotel Jamestown, whose support helped transform the market into what it is today, to be its heart and soul.

If we truly value accessibility and inclusion, then we must be willing to examine the unintended consequences of our decisions. Intentions matter, but impact matters more.

The question isn’t whether the market’s leaders meant to exclude anyone. The question is, do we confront our privilege and its effect on our community? Or do we continue the status quo?

Linnea Haskins is a Jamestown resident.