Frugality may be a necessity when you’re living hand-to-mouth, and a virtue worth cultivating in more prosperous times; but one need not be living high on the hog to grow weary of “the economy of scale.” Mass-produced items may be cheap, but sometimes it pays to pay a little more for something made with love and care by human hands.
That goes for food as well as for household objects: If we’re going to devote thought to the feng shui of our surroundings, it makes sense to give equal weight to what we put inside our bodies, if not more. At crafts fairs and farmers’ markets these days, the line of demarcation between handcrafted or upcycled dry goods and farm-to-table artisan edibles is fading fast. Why shop in two places when you can stock your kitchen shelves, your wardrobe and your china cabinet all in one, with products that will make you feel good all over?
In the vanguard of today’s artisan foods movement are events like the Farm & Flea Markets that have been going on semiannually at Basilica Hudson. They started out as a Black Friday alternative to shopping malls, but now they’re happening in the spring as well, and they generate funding for Basilica’s year-round arts and cultural programming.
The Basilica Farm & Flea Spring Market returns this weekend, May 6 and 7, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. General admission for the whole weekend costs $5 and is free for children under age 12. That gets you access to the wares of hundreds of regional vendors purveying fresh farm produce and value-added food products, handmade craft items and vintage furnishings and collectibles. Basilica’s cavernous space is located at 110 South Front Street in Hudson. For details, visit http://basilicahudson.org/farmandflea.
Join the family! 
