Locals enjoy the Lakeside Farmers Market

What makes local residents come out to a farmers market on a rainy Saturday in Greenwood Lake? That was a question posed to several customers who visited this spot on Windermere Ave. in Greenwood Lake.

“I think it’s a blessing because there’s a lot of states that need rain, so this to me is a blessing,” a Warwick resident said. “But also, I love the local coverage here and I try to go all the all the markets,” she added. And one of the vendors she enjoys visiting is Jean-Claude Bakery.

Pastry chef Jean-Claude grew up in the famous Basque region (also known as “Euskadi”) of southern France, just across the border from Spain. His Artisan Bakery & Dessert Café creates a vast array of cakes, cookies, treats, special occasion celebratory cakes, holiday specialties, seasonal offerings and more. Fruits used in his desserts are picked from local orchards in season, like the recent batch of “Strawberry Galettes.” While visiting this vendor at the Lakeside farmers Market at Winstanley Park in Greenwood Lake, one customer returned because his family ate the original purchases he had made - plain and almond croissants - within the hour and he needed refills.

The re-establishment of farmers markets in the United States is a success story of renewal, according to the Farmers Market Coalition.

“In recent decades, farmers markets have again assumed their historic role as important social and economic institutions in many of our communities. For many of us, farmers markets offer a glimmer of hope for a sane and healthy future. Farmers markets are important for many reasons. Foremost, they are important because they are the critical component in rebuilding local food economies. By providing a cost-effective, retail sales opportunity for local food producers, farmers markets help make farming profitable. By making farming profitable, we preserve farmland and farmers and have encouraged a new generation to take-up farming.”

The Lakeside Farmers Market provides periods of intense interaction with farmers and other purveyors. Unlike grocery stores or public markets, farmers markets invite their customers to come for brief periods of time each Saturday, from 9AM-1PM. Customers get to enjoy extraordinary flavors that they would not normally get from produce that ripens in transit, instead of on the vine.

Jean-Claude JeanClaudeBakery.com has won numerous awards from regional media organizations and customer groups, like Zagat for the past decade, “Best of the Hudson Valley,” “Best Bakery” by area publications.

For more information about Jean-Claude Bakery, log onto www.JeanClaudeBakery.com.

To learn more about Lakeside Farmers Market vendors, log onto https://rb.gy/ugdxo.