Eight Questions for Carole Palmer
Coordinator for the Gallup Farmers’ Market
Q. What got you interested in working with the Gallup Farmers’ Market?
A. Well, I have always enjoyed farmers’ markets and I was excited when Gallup’s was just starting. I moved to Ft. Defiance to work with a gardening program at a special education school.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. The different people that I meet when they come through. We get so many different people from all aspects of the community who come to shop and we have great vendors. Some come in from Vanderwagen and farther away to participate, so it’s always fun.
Q. What’s the biggest challenge of your job?
A. The biggest challenge is the weather, because we’re very seasonal. We have a very short season already, but if we get a severe frost then suddenly we don’t have anything for anybody to come and buy or if it’s really nice then we can extend the market. We were able to do that one year, but usually we have to worry about frost in the fall.
Q. What changes have you seen over the six years that you’ve worked as Coordinator?
A. The greatest thing is the introduction of the WIC program and the senior benefits program where WIC moms and seniors who receive commodity assistance are able to get coupons, which they can spend specifically at the farmers’ market on fresh produce and fruits. And a lot of times the food is picked right that morning, so you can’t get much fresher than that.
Q. What do you see the future potential of the Gallup Farmers’ Market as being?
A. Well, we will continue to try and get more vendors in the fall. We have a lot of great people right now in the community and the gardening community has grown, literally, so that is helping. There is just a lot of potential to really make the community aware that things do grow in Gallup.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your off time?
A. I do enjoy gardening, just in general, reading, hiking and being with friends. I have cats and dogs. So I take them out and about.
Q. What is your favorite movie?
A. Cars 2. I just think that it’s so well done and I love that they included alternative fuels as a topic. I like animation. I grew up on cartoons and I like to watch cartoons.
Q. If you could trade places with one famous person, either living or dead, who would it be and why?
A. There are many people that I admire, but I don’t know that I would want the kind of attention that famous people tend to get. I remember there was a quote Bill Murray said once. If he could be rich and famous, he would choose rich because famous isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
The Gallup Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays from 8:30 to 11am in the Downtown Walkway between Aztec and Coal.
