Seat of the Revolution

market - A place, or mechanism, where buyers and sellers can communicate and complete an exchange for goods or services¹

The Freightouse is a valuable piece of Depot Town's and Ypsilanti's history. The group that manages it's use and funding frequently canvases Hillary and me while we're buying our produce on Saturdays.

They claim that The Farmer's Market is at risk because the Freightouse administration is having budget difficulties. "Save the Farmer's Market, Save the Freighthouse", they say.

Today I spoke with Mr. Karpo who has a fruit farm just outside of town. He's supplied us with our fruit for the past three years. If you've ever had our plum jam, they're Karpo santa rosa plums. Last year we bought five to six bushels of plums, peaches, rasberries, and apples.

Mr. Karpo told me that the Farmer's Market might not exist past September. He said the expectation of a year-round Farmer's Market doesn't make sense for farmers.

He said that the possiblity of moving to a site on US-12 is being explored as an alternative. We'd buy his fruit in a parking lot out of his truck and I told him so. I resent those trying to "save" the Freighthouse by leveraging my relationship with farmers like Karpo that supply me with food.

We talked about meeting in the rarely-used, $100,000+, Depot Town Parking Lot across the tracks from the Freighthouse. We looked at the empty lot, Hillary commented on the useless banners that nobody sees. The cinder-block retaining wall and several parking concrete parking barriers are already crumbling. People park in the unpaved lot around the Depot instead and everybody seems okay with this.

Even the City of Ypsilanti ties the Historic Freighthouse to the Farmer's Market. It's about time the Farmer's Market disassociate itself from the Feighthouse and the City.

Obviously Ypsilanti cannot afford the Freighthouse. We all feel bad about it. If it's something Ypsilantians wanted, they'd fund it. It's time to move on.

There's a large bricked area directly adjacent to the Freighthouse. Seems like a perfectly reasonable place to buy and sell produce. The empty parking lot in Depot Town, the High School parking lot, or any church parking lot in town would all be fine alternatives.

I don't need the live music, the crafts, or the "save-the-freighthouse" distractions. The Revolution needs produce.

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¹University of Cincinnati