Fort Belvoir, Va. –
The weekly farmers market is making a comeback at the Defense Logistics Agency.
Starting June 8, the market will be held every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. near the front doors of the Headquarters Complex. The last farmers market for the season will be Oct. 19.
In addition, there will be a special Thanksgiving market on Nov. 22 and a holiday market on Dec. 14.
The last farmers market was held in May 2019.
“We are excited to have it finally come back after almost three years of hiatus due to the COVID-19 situation,” said Vivian d’Alelio, a management and program analyst with DLA Installation Management who is helping organize the event.
Returning vendors include the Great Harvest Bread Company, Layla’s Lebanese Restaurant and Honeycomb Heroes. They will be joined by a couple new vendors including Dilly Cakes, which will not be at the markets in June, and Rivera Produce.
Bringing back the farmers market may help make people happier as they come back to the office, said Kyra Bailey, an administrative assistant with Installation Management and another event organizer.
“It brings more of a sense of community back,” Bailey said. “Having any type of event to bring people back together after being away for song long, that’s important for the climate of the workplace.”
Bailey said she started with DLA in January 2020, so she only had a short amount of time working under more normal circumstances before the pandemic hit.
“It will be really nice to get to experience what can do with our area and not have to be so separate and away from everybody,” Bailey said.
Events like the farmers market are very important to boosting employees’ morale and supporting local businesses, d’Alelio said.
“I think it’s the camaraderie for people to finally get together, especially after being in lockdown and away from the workforce,” she said. “Just being able to see smiling faces will be a great thing to see, and hopefully on June 8, we’ll see a lot of them as we open the farmers market.”
People attending the farmer’s market are asked to maintain social distancing while shopping. Masks are optional at the markets, d’Alelio said.