Old Town embraces organic cornerstone

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Before Lansing resident Fran Russell would be allowed into a party, people would ask if she brought her nuts.

“I’ve been making these for seven to eight years,” she said. “I’d take them to my friends’ parties and give them away as gifts to people.”

Then, about four years ago, Russell decided to take her homemade recipe for nuts and offer her creation for sale. That’s when her online business, The Nuts, was born in Lansing’s Old Town.

The Nuts is not the only business to choose Old Town as its home. Since the mid-1990s, Old Town has received a face-lift that has brought an upscale, modern flavor to the once defunct downtown. The initiative to change Old Town’s reputation started with the Old Town Commercial Association, which has been shuffling businesses into Old Town for almost 15 years.

“Old Town was a seedy place to be,” said Chad Badgero, communications director for the Old Town Commercial Association. “(The revitalization) effort began with the artists that saw all the potential here.”

The organization has created a community events calendar to promote connectivity. Every first Sunday of the month, it hosts a farmers’ market on the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue. The market offers fresh produce, flowers and live music.

Russell, along with other vendors, including the MSU Organic Farm, sells her goods to passing locals and other Old Town visitors.

“People take pride in what they make,” Badgero said. “I think the best part about (the market is) the business owners and the pride they have in what they do.”

Locals going to the market are interested in buying fresh, local produce, he said.

Eva Nyerges, a student of the Organic Farming Certificate Program at MSU, said people are attracted to farmers’ markets because of the quality of the produce available.

“A lot of people want organic,” she said. “It costs more than they’re used to, but they want organic because it’s better for your health.”

Attendance at the market, which began in June, has been steady, Badgero said. Despite the bad economy, he said people are watching where they spend and shopping more locally.

“Usually people are staying closer to town, so they will come down here to buy their produce from our market,” he said.

The next farmers’ market is scheduled for Oct. 4.

The market and the community events were made possible by the Old Town Commercial Association, which cleaned up the neighborhood and made it more resident-friendly, Badgero said. Before the organization, Old Town experienced a 90 percent vacancy rate and high crime.

The rate has since gone down to 10 percent and low crime rates make the neighborhood more appealing to young professionals and families, he said.

Old Town resident Emily Brown was buying produce and flowers at the Sept. 6 market. The three-year resident of Old Town said she made a trip to the market every Sunday it was open.

“I like that it’s local food and it’s well priced,” she said.

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