Sask. market offers customers a taste of the Prairies

When Nadine Lee and her husband, Michael, moved to Gravelbourg Sask., from Edmonton 15 years ago, they found there weren’t many farmers markets.

“We were like, ‘oh no, what are we going to eat?’” Lee said.

And so the dream for the Wandering Market began. Located in Moose Jaw, Sask., the Wandering Market obtains produce and food from more than 100 producers throughout Saskatchewan. The selection includes organic grains, home-grown vegetables, honey, meat and eggs as well as non-food items.

They sell only non-genetically modified food, grown without the use of chemicals. Meat sold in the Wandering Market comes from humanely raised animals.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Lee realized the importance of locally sourced food because grocery stores ran out of supplies, while the Wandering Market didn’t.

“We saw last year how vulnerable our food system actually is,” she said. “Last year, when the grocery stores were clearing out, we had people coming in droves to the market.”

According to Lee, local producers are integral to food security.

“We were able to keep up with the demand,” Lee said. “We just kept calling farmers and saying, ‘hey, we need another pallet of flour,’ and they were showing up.”

Lee said her favourite part about running the Wandering Market is the connections she’s made, in the community and with producers.

“When you build a system based on people caring genuinely about their community and about people, it’s way different.”

Maureen Saretsky operates Golden Eden Produce alongside her husband, Tim, and is one of many producers for the Wandering Market. They produce vegetables that are non-GMO and pesticide free.

Saretsky said for them, it’s about health, and she saw that belief echoed in the Wandering Market.

“We love having our products in the Wandering Market,” Saretsky said. “They have a very strong sense of health for all of the products that they sell, you just know when you’re buying it from them that it’s healthy.”

For Saretsky and Golden Eden Produce, it’s just as much about their values as it is about getting their produce across the province.

“We like being associated with that because in essence, that’s our mission statement,” she said.

The same can be said for Vince Stevenson, a cattle rancher out of Shaunavon, Sask., who owns Ranchhouse Meat Company with his wife. Stevenson, who raises his cattle hormone-free while also avoiding harsh chemicals and processed additives, believes in the Wandering Market’s principle of selling natural products.

“You know how it’s being raised and what it’s fed,” Stevenson said. “Bigger isn’t always better.”

Stevenson said working with the Wandering Market enabled more people from across the province to recognize his product.

“Where we’re at, our demographics for people isn’t a lot,” Stevenson said. “Whereas there, there’s more people and they have a lot of other different, natural products to go along.

“I just thought it was a good fit and hats off to them for doing what they’re doing.”

In the future, Lee said they hope to expand the Wandering Market.

“We want to build a big centralized food district where we can incubate other small businesses,” she said.