Today we’d like to introduce you to Candi Nielsen.
Hi Candi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
La Grande Farmers Market has grown from humble beginnings into a vibrant and much-loved community gathering place in downtown La Grande, Oregon.
The market began in 1980 as a small open-air market with just a handful of vendors, originally known as the Blue Mountain Producers. In 2003, it became the La Grande Farmers Market, continuing its commitment to connecting local farmers, producers, and small businesses with the community.
Today, the market welcomes up to 60 vendors throughout the season, with approximately 40 vendors participating on an average Saturday market day. The market operates twice a week during the season—Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays from 3–6 p.m.—giving our community multiple opportunities each week to shop local, support small businesses, and connect with the people who grow, make, and produce the goods they sell.
But La Grande Farmers Market is about much more than shopping. It is a place where neighbors meet, families gather, local businesses grow, and community connections are strengthened.
Each year, the market hosts several special events designed to bring people together. Kids Day gives children an opportunity to participate in activities, learn about the market, and even have their own free vendor booth to sell what they have made or grown. Our annual Fruit Pie Festival and Sale is the market’s only fundraiser, featuring homemade fruit pies and generous community support that helps offset the costs of operating the market. We also celebrate the season with an annual Fall Harvest Festival, typically held during our final market of the year, with fall-themed activities and family fun.
At the heart of everything we do is our mission:
“The mission of the La Grande Farmers’ Market is to enhance the economic sustainability of our region’s farms by providing a venue for the exchange of quality locally grown goods while creating a vibrant community gathering place.”
For more than four decades, La Grande Farmers Market has continued to evolve while staying true to that purpose. What began with a handful of local producers has grown into a place that supports farmers, entrepreneurs, artists, families, and the broader community.
We are proud of our history, grateful for the vendors and customers who make the market possible, and excited to continue building a strong local food system and a vibrant community gathering place for generations to come.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like any organization that has been around for more than four decades, La Grande Farmers Market has experienced its share of ups and downs. Through each challenge, however, the market has continued to adapt, grow, and find ways to serve our vendors and community.
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most challenging periods in the market’s history. Even though we were an outdoor market, we were required to implement significant safety measures, including social distancing, masks, six-foot spacing markers, and designated entrances and exits. Creating and maintaining these measures required a tremendous amount of time, effort, and coordination from market staff, but we were committed to keeping the market operating as safely as possible while continuing to provide our community with access to locally grown and produced goods.
The market has also experienced several transitions in management over the years. Our current management team, husband and wife Lance and Candi Nielsen, have been involved with La Grande Farmers Market for nearly a decade in various capacities and have served together as the management team for the past five years. Their long-standing involvement has provided continuity while allowing the market to continue evolving with the needs of its vendors and community.
Another area of uncertainty has been our SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program and the funding that makes it possible. There have been years—particularly in recent years—when we simply did not know whether funding for the program would continue. That uncertainty can make planning difficult, but the importance of the program to our community has made it worth pursuing every available opportunity to keep it going.
Despite these challenges, La Grande Farmers Market has continued to move forward. Every difficult season has brought new lessons, new partnerships, and new opportunities to strengthen the market. Our ability to weather those challenges is a testament to the dedication of our vendors, volunteers, staff, board members, community partners, and customers who continue to believe in the importance of keeping a local farmers market thriving in La Grande.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
This is LGFM’s manager! Her name is Candi Nielsen, and she started out as a volunteer with the Market and then was the Assistant Manager for several seasons and then she became the manager 5 years ago. You probably have seen her at the Info booth, handing out tokens, taking questions, helping vendors get settled and being a constant presence at the market.
Candi was raised here locally in beautiful Union, Oregon, where she lived with her family on a small family farm with a vegetable garden, honeybee hives, fruit trees, a greenhouse, chickens, lambs, pigs, horses and many other animals. She spent her childhood learning how to preserve the vegetables and fruit harvested, fixing fences, exploring the woods outside Union, as well as hunting, fishing, foraging for mushrooms and gathering huckleberries with her family. She was an avid horseback rider and was part of her local 4-H club and high school FFA club. She has many fond memories of traveling to La Grande and going with her mom to the Farmers Market and recalls it being what she fondly calls a weekly “pilgrimage” for her family. She continued this same ritual with her own daughters and now continues the tradition with her grandchildren.
Candi is most proud of the growth LGFM has seen this season, with many new vendors at the market. She loves the connections she has created with each and every vendor and prides herself in knowing all of them on a first name basis.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’m an avid reader and to list my favorite books would take up too much space. I enjoy everything from historical fiction, to fantasy, to cookbooks, to self help books, and fictional books.
I also enjoy watching YouTube and TikTok and I use Instagram and Facebook a lot to market LGFM and local events.
I also admit to using the app Canva to help me create content and keep things fresh and new and engaging.
I’m also a big fan of the podcast Crime Junkie, as I love a good mystery.
Pricing:
- Saturday 5 foot booth-$17
- Saturday 10 foot booth-$27
- Saturday 10 foot booth with vehicle -$32
- Tuesday 5 foot booth-$13
- Tuesday 10 foot booth-$20
Contact Info:
- Website: La Grande Farmers Market https://share.google/L2a677jMHz8HiWS87
- Instagram: La Grande Farmers Market https://share.google/L2a677jMHz8HiWS87
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1JvbpsxD2b/
