North America’s oldest farmers’ market gets new boost from cruise passengers

Visitors from all over the world are descending on the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market these days, climbing down cruise ship gangplanks into the bustling market that hugs the waterfront.

Indeed, more than 130 cruise vessels are expected this year to deliver some 250,000 people from across North America, Europe and Asia to Halifax and the continent’s oldest continuous farmers’ market, in operation since 1750.

The city’s growing cruise-ship industry is the key reason behind the decision in 2010 to relocate the market from its former brewery premises a few blocks away to its current 50,000-square-foot, two-storey building, twice the size of its previous premises. “The ships are making a big difference,” says Dave Belt, whose market stall offers a remarkable array of lavender products, ranging from soaps and creams to tea and mosquito repellents.