Students, families and vendors flocked to the Elon Community Church parking lot Thursday, as they do every week, to sell and purchase goods and share stories. Vendor tents are filled with flowers, fresh vegetables and baked goods as sellers smile and make conversation with their customers.

At the Elon Community Church farmer’s market, vendors reconnect with each other and community members. Each business owner has a story of inspiration that led them to be an entrepreneur.

Cooking and baking for cause

Addie Graves, of Graham, is known for her sugary cakes and is one of the most beloved and longest-returning vendors at the farmer’s market.

She discovered her love of baking after experimenting with different cake recipes with a friend. Graves experienced some failure with her baked goods, but a final attempt found one that was surprisingly tasty. After giving one half of her cake to her beautician and the other to a local shopkeeper, they both agreed Graves had a knack for baking. The support and encouragement of local businesspeople inspired her to make baking a significant part of her life.

“That’s how I started making cakes, with a half a cake,” Graves said.

She has always had a passion for the fresh, home-style food offered at the market.

“I love to cook, and I love gardening because I grew up on a farm, and I love fresh vegetables,” Graves said.

Her father was an established farmer, known for selling his corn and other produce to local restaurants. Graves took on the responsibility of cooking his fresh produce and planning meals for her family of nine since she was a young woman.

“I loved to cook, so I cooked and I always invited people in,” she said.

Her love of cooking for large groups of people is increasing as she volunteers with her daughter to feed the hungry.

“I do a lot of casseroles because I feed a lot of people,” Graves said. “And [Graves and her daughter] feed the hungry.” 

Graves used her cooking abilities to fuel her entreprenuerial spirit. Not only did she start her own business, “Taste-n-See”, but she also recently published a cookbook.

“I do have a cookbook. I’m trying to get a new one out preferably by this fall,” Graves said. “It’s all about dessert, but this one coming out is going to have dessert and casserole.”

The sales and business aspects of the market aren’t the only things that keep her coming back each week. It’s her love of the community that inspires her to return.

“It’s a really nice area. I look forward to see these children,” Graves said.

She feels a difference in the market when school isn’t in session and misses interacting with different students from across the country.

“In the mid summer it’s real lonesome out here,” Graves said.

Hobby turns into family business

The market is also home to young business owners. For 14-year-old Faith Thompson of T5-Farms, life consists of working with cows and chickens, keeping them fed and watered, picking the best vegetables to bring to markets to sell and putting on a grown-up smile. She asks “How do you do?” to customers as they graze her produce.

“I do a little bit of everything,” Thompson said.

She explained how this farm-to-market lifestyle was not always her family’s plan.

“My dad is an engineer surveyor, and when the housing market crashed and his job really slowed down, we just started expanding,” Thompson said. “We’ve always lived on a lot of land, always had a big garden and always had cows and chickens, and so now it’s coming into a pretty large production.”

Regardless of what led her and her family to farming, Thompson plays a key role in her family-owned farm in Southern Alamance County.

“Right now, we have sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash, eggplant, peppers, okra and cherry tomatoes,” Thompson said. “We sell at three other markets, [but] when the students are in, business is a lot more.”

Thompson sits beside her younger sibling and educates customers about their pesticide, antibiotic and hormone free produce. She has found joy and community from the unexpected life change.

“I really enjoy [working with the students]. It’s a lot of fun,” Thompson said.

For Graves and Thompson, a life dedicated to giving back to the community in healthy and locally beneficial ways is a long established tradition.

New career born

Ray Whitaker has recently retired from his job as a licensed respiratory therapist. With this newfound time, Whitaker has picked up gardening.

The former respiratory therapist switched from a highly intensive position as a respiratory therapist, a job filled with the daily pressure of cardiac arrests and “keeping people on this planet”, to an independent way of living with his dog and tending to his water plants. His lifestyle has shifted from saving lives to helping grow and build new ones.

“I found growing things a good way to relieve worries from work,” he said. “Healthcare is a very stressful job. If you’re in clinical practice, it’s very busy.”

Since his retirement, Whitaker has taken his stress-relieving hobby and transformed it into a business.

“About five years ago, I took a section of my back lawn, about an acre and a half, and built a greenhouse and four ponds,” he said.

Now, his business, which started with just two aloe plants, has expanded to water plants, purple bearded irises, sweet irises, water lilies and several others.

“I raise everything. You have to have a green thumb to start,” Whitaker said. “From there, you have to have a real love for plants. And that is the start of it all, it doesn’t matter what you grow.”

Although he doesn’t consider his gardening business work, he urges others to not spend their lives too wrapped up in their own careers.

“Having a balance in your life is very important: recreation, work, recreation, work,” Whitaker said.

North Carolina is home to 202 farmer’s markets, a number that is steadily increasing. According to a study on the national demographics of shoppers at farmer’s markets, out of a sample of 336, 16 percent of shoppers were between the ages of 20 and 24.

Although the study states that the majority of customers comes from the 22 to 45 age group, students make up most of the customers at the local market within the Elon community.

Their interest lies not only in the fresh, organic foods available to them, but in their genuine concern for the community.

“I think [the farmer’s market] supports the local community and keeps smaller businesses in business because there are bigger businesses trying to push them out of business, so I think it’s important,” said senior Anna Johnson, a frequent market visitor.

Although every local farmer’s market is important to a community’s local health and economic well-being, it also builds the culture and relationships within the community.

“I think [the vendors] all offer something different, so it’s great diversity for everyone,” Johnson said.