Vinny Bonanno has served as the Executive Director of the West Asheville Tailgate Market since 2022,  as well as being the owner/operator of Stretching in Public, a Make it Happen coach, and the lead on various creative projects and performances around the Asheville area. After Helene made landfall, Vinny opted to open WATM only days later. Visit the market on Tuesday afternoons through December.
 
What is the importance of farmers markets and the West Asheville Tailgate Market being open right now?
 
Greens! I’ve been going to free meals for myself, to have community, and to see friends who are working at these free meal sites. Two chefs asked me to connect them with farmers because they are running out of vegetables to cook with. Michelle Bailey, who was BBQing free meals outside of Citizen Vinyl, said, “We have money to pay farmers for their vegetables.” When you go to find free meals, a majority of them are meat and rice and not many vegetables. Knowing the need for fresh produce in our diets as a part of our nourishment is another reason for being open.
 
People really need community right now—did you see the chalk art? It’s stunning! Grown adults using chalk and making art together, drawing the mountains or writing “828 Strong”—people just need to be together and have a creative outlet to express their experience. Getting the community together in a place that they are familiar with and giving people some sense of normalcy and safety feels important.
 
Last Tuesday, Oct. 8, was our busiest market of the year and even with spotty cell connection we have been able to accept SNAP at all markets, which is huge for folks needing to fill their Farm Fresh Produce Prescriptions or to Double their SNAP tokens without missing a week.
 
How did you make the decision to keep the market open just a few days after Helene?
 
I knew that our location would be one of the available spots not affected by flooding, in the heart of a neighborhood in West Asheville—that we could do it. If communications were down we would still get those folks and walkers out on Haywood looking for supplies and resources. Because we are visible from Haywood Road, people would be able to see that the market was still happening whether an announcement was able to be made or not. That was driving me, that our market is set up for this and well positioned to be open and to be a resource. 
 
Early on, there was so much uncertainty of how and where people could get fresh food—lines at Ingles across the street were so long. At first, I was wondering how the community would feel, if having a market and having vendors selling things was the right move at that moment. The thing that helped me see through those two ideas was, well, the farmers need an outlet and they can decide what is best for them—if they are going to offer pay-what-you-can, bartering or charging full price. So, I removed myself from those decisions and thought my job was to give the farmers an outlet and the community members access.
 
How did WATM adapt to meet new community needs?
 
I think with the opportunity for increased demand in fresh local food because the other markets hadn’t been open and people are not getting as much nourishment because of depleted resources, it could be okay to have a market and to bring on multiple vendors in the same category. For example, we had three mushroom vendors when we usually have only one to keep product balance with customer traffic, and they all gave the impression that they did well, relative to the time. 
 
I was thinking about opening the market to other vendors then Black Trumpet Farm requested to come and I thought, “Oh, of course they can come, then let’s open the door to everyone!” So, we opened our roster to vendors at other markets like East Asheville, River Arts District, and North Asheville, which filled the market and gave other local vendors (whether they are on the roster or not) the opportunity to vend when other markets were closed. Because communications were still so spotty on Oct. 1, vendors just showed up and we welcomed them. We did not charge a vendor fee on Oct. 1, then we did pay what you can on Oct. 8.
 
Being open and being a place that is a regular community event and fixture, operating at the same time with the opportunity to purchase local, a lot of people came up who were riding their bike by – they were so excited to see people. I think people just needed to be with each other. Also as far as customer needs, our second market after Helene had two massage therapists, tea with Shunyu, music, free supplies, and a mental health clinic all lined up along the front of the church like a wellness wall of support for the community. The free resource booth is becoming a fixture of the market, especially with the help of our host, Grace Baptist Church.
 
How has the collaboration amongst markets been?
 
Those emails that Mike (ASAP’s Farmers Market Program Director) sent connecting us all. I could quickly see what other markets are doing. Luckily, the River Arts, East Asheville, and West Asheville markets already have the weekday market alliance which has been helpful to keep in touch with each other and have each other’s back. Especially during this time, having a group text with these markets and having other market managers to brainstorm with, it’s like having people on your team even when we are all doing mostly the same thing just a different day of the week and as separate businesses. We really showed up to support each other.
 
What is giving you hope right now?
 
One of my vendors doing my laundry! The well water—I went to take a free shower at the Foamy Homies by Doctor Bronners at the Grassroots AID Partnership site on Haywood. When I got there Lewis (of Bear Necessities Farm and a vendor at WATM) was there pumping free water from his well into the showers. Then, after him, Mateo (of Herbs and Roots and a vendor of WATM) showed up with water from his well too. I have seen Mateo multiple times and multiple different sites filling water. So, that’s giving me hope that our farmers market community, many who live so far out of town, are coming into West Asheville to help meet needs and fill water sites. At our first market back, Black Trumpet Farm even brought water and vendors were giving out free food.
 
Photo by Caleb Johnson.