REESOR'S FARM MARKET

Sadie Cheng
Feb 11, 2019
2 min read

Updated: Mar 8, 2019

(Food Theory Blog #2)

Jay Reesor, his siblings, and his parents moved here from Pennsylvania and have lived/farmed in the Markham/Stouffville area since 1804. The family originally farmed dairy and also grew specialty crops like green peas, forage crop seeds, and sweet corn. As kids, they would often sell their pickled sweet corn on the side of their gravel road.

Jay began his own farming career in 1984. He worked his Uncle’s farm up learning to farming wheat, grain corn, soybeans, and sweet corn.

In 1985, they took over another small farm nearby, which is still their current farm market location. They sold produce off a farm wagon at the end of a busy road, which has brought them increasingly more and more loyal customers. To this day, they grow strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, and pumpkins. They also raise pigs and lay hens.

In 1992, his wife Miram and their two daughters decided on a volunteer service in Haiti, where they helped local farmers improve their skills and crop fields. During this time away, his sister and her husband took over the farm, and added a new bakery alongside it.

This farm/bakery is now known as Reesor’s Market & Bakery at 5758 Main Stree.

The Reesor's believe in putting us first, and supporting local merchants. They value healthy and sustainably grown food in Ontario. By supporting local agriculture and products, they are building a strong community to ultimately benefit us all. They also make and grow most of the food they sell, this is the way they control the quality of their products. Also by carefully sourcing only the products that they know and trust, the result is happier and healthier communities.

Reesor’s farm wants all of us to be good stewards. They limit the use of non-renewable resources in all aspect of their family business. They specialize in local food lowering food miles, they only use re-useable shopping bags, and their goal is to use 100% recycled packaging to lighten the carbon footprint on the planet.

Their feature crops in the summer are strawberries, pumpkins and sweet corn. Reesor’s farm offers strawberry picking in the summer. Prices are much a little more expensive than supermarkets, but considering the consistent good quality hand-picked crops, their initiatives to create a better sustainable environment, and the positives of supporting local farms, I think it’s definitely more worth it.