Every Monday and Thursday at 4 o鈥檆lock, the springs into action.
Farmers drop off weekly harvests from the backs of buggies and pickup trucks. And local buyers 鈥� from nearby restaurants, schools, hospitals and food pantries 鈥� get ready to bid on boxes stuffed with yellow squash and green beans, blueberries and purple plums.
Bradley Meek is one of those buyers. The vintner makes from fruits other than grapes. This summer, his eye is on rhubarb.
鈥淔or whatever reason, the sourness goes out during fermentation and there鈥檚 a little bit of residual sugar,鈥� he said.
Meek frequents this auction because, unlike at the farmer鈥檚 market, he can buy pallets instead of pints of freshly picked fruit here.
鈥淏lueberries at the Athens Farmers Market are going for $7 a pint right now,鈥� he explained, eyes wide. 鈥淲hen I came out here, they were selling flats of blueberries, and I was getting them really cheap.鈥�
Plus, there鈥檚 another benefit to this auction.
鈥淎ll of this produce is grown here,鈥� said Sam Watson, an Americorps member for Rural Action, the nonprofit that helps run this auction for the rural farming village of about 300 people.
鈥淚t's like the Mecca of where our food is grown in this county,鈥� they said. 鈥淎nd the people who actually live here literally don't have access to it.鈥�
There are near Chesterhill, Watson said, but the closest Kroger or Aldi is about 20 miles from the village center. So even though corn and zucchini and tomatoes blossom in droves beside winding rural roads, it鈥檚 not necessarily easy to buy those fresh veggies.
In fact, in Morgan County 鈥� 17.5% of the population 鈥� are food insecure, according to Feeding America.
The Chesterhill Produce Auction to address that problem.
The rise of produce auctions in Ohio
The first produce auction to come to Ohio , just east of Cleveland.
At the time, many of the Amish farmers there worked in the dairy industry, producing grade B milk for a cheese plant in Middlefield. When the plant started only accepting federally regulated grade A milk, those Amish farmers found themselves in a bind.
鈥淭he farmers, due to religious beliefs, couldn't convert over to electricity or coolers or diesel generator coolers or anything like that,鈥� said Brad Bergefurd, who worked as an Ohio State extension educator there.
So, many switched to produce farming. But they faced an immediate problem.
鈥淲hen you grain farm, you can haul it to local elevators. When you raise livestock, you can take it to local livestock auctions. When you鈥檙e a dairy farmer, you take it to the local dairy plant,鈥� Bergefurd said. 鈥淏ut produce, you have to come up with your own marketing.鈥�
鈥淒ue to the Amish not being able to have trucks and travel to the big cities to deliver produce to the restaurants or the wholesale buyers or the chain stores, they had to come up with a marketing structure that would allow buyers to come to them.鈥�
Their solution: a produce auction. And it worked.
Since then, Bergefurd has found it鈥檚 not just good for the horse-and-buggy crowd. The auctions give people a way to buy local produce in bulk and pick their own price no matter who the supplier is.
Since then, the idea has caught on: there are now across the state and most are doing really well.
鈥淓very produce auction that has been established in Ohio ever since the first in 鈥�92, they've been growing leaps and bounds,鈥� Bergefurd said.
Stimulating the local economy
Nearly twenty years in, more than 150 producers now sell at the Chesterhill Produce Auction in a single season, and it鈥檚 about to grow even more.
With nearly from the state鈥檚 Appalachian Community Grant Program, it has plans to expand the auction floor, and build bathrooms and a kitchen, where food can be packaged and prepared.
This expansion won鈥檛 just increase access to healthy, fresh food, organizers hope it鈥檒l also stimulate the economy.
鈥淏asically, we鈥檙e doing economic development with local agriculture,鈥� said Tom Redfern, Rural Action鈥檚 director of sustainable agriculture. 鈥淲e鈥檙e aggregating from multiple small producers to create a food based destination in a rural place, where people are now coming and spending money here, and maybe in the community too.鈥�
That鈥檚 exactly the point of the grant.
Through its 鈥樷�� initiative, the state is investing more than $154 million in similar projects across the state, with hopes of attracting tourism to the region, while raising the quality of life for locals.
Other projects include expanding a bike trail near Ross County鈥檚 Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks sites, building a corridor to welcome visitors to Hocking Hills and renovating one of the last remaining inns along the old National Road.
Redfern is hopeful these investments will help in places like Chesterhill, where of the population lives in poverty.
鈥淣obody鈥檚 going to build a factory around here,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait on that.鈥�
So instead, he鈥檚 focusing on what the county already has: plenty of farmland and the fruits and veggies to show for it.