It has been two months since we first announced our plans to acquire an
unoccupied building on the Glasgow Square and renovate it as a place to house
the Bounty of the Barrens Farmers’ Market year round. Since many local folks
have been so happy with this plan, it is time for us to give everyone an
update.
Unfortunately, Sustainable Glasgow’s initial grant application to the Kentucky
Agricultural Development Fund was rejected. We knew we had a great idea and
that we had assembled a quality application. But the KADF rejected our idea on the basis
that Sustainable Glasgow does not have the estimated $150,000 in matching funds
which would be required to receive the matching grant. All of us associated with Sustainable Glasgow
knew this was an issue, but we felt that it should not stand in the way of
KADF’s consideration of our project. We felt that if the state agency awarded
us the grant based upon our success in raising the matching funds, the community
would have readily contributed the necessary funds in order to breathe this new
life into our square. Apparently, we were wrong about that, but we certainly
are not about to give up!
We are more convinced each day that our vision for converting an old building
into a place where our local food economy can be nourished, while our local
farmers and chefs can nourish us, is the answer to many of our woes. We feel
that the establishment of a venue for local food that can be open many hours
each week, a place where folks can walk or cycle to a destination, where we can
communicate with each other and enjoy the bounty of our land, is worth our
extraordinary efforts to secure.
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