- Doris Berry was a shining example of the kind of work ethic it takes to run a produce operation in Mississippi.
When you’re grabbing a couple of tomatoes or a cucumber from the produce aisle at your neighborhood grocery store, you probably don’t consider where it was grown, or how it got to the supermarket. Yet, those who grow our food, and those who sell it, are no doubt the backbone of our society. They are hardworking people, oftentimes families, who work long hours to ensure we have access to fresh, healthy food for our tables.
For those who prefer the freshest produce available, a farm stand is the way to go. Doris Berry was a shining example of the kind of work ethic it takes to run a produce operation in Mississippi. She and her husband started selling produce out of a stall at the Mississippi Farmer’s Market on Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson in 1950. Nell Cody joined them in the business in the 1960’s.
Over the years, they developed a loyal clientele. People came for the fresh fruits and vegetables and stayed for the homespun humor and care Doris and Nell showed their customers. It got personal, with Doris often asking about people’s children, a sick parent, or details about a recent vacation. They dug in their feet when the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce moved the 56-year-old farmers market to its current location to High Street near the Mississippi Fairgrounds. Doris and Nell opted to remain at the original Woodrow Wilson site.
Nell passed away in 2008, but Doris continued running the business. By 2017, she was the only remaining vendor at the old Farmer’s Market. The writing was on the wall that it was time to move.
By that time, Doris’s niece, Marcie Bullock, had started working with her.
“I had just retired from my job in banking and Aunt Doris told me she knew what I could do next,” laughs Marcie. “I worked with her for a couple of years on Woodrow Wilson before we found this place.”
Doris Berry’s Farmers Market officially moved to Highway 80 in Pearl, between the Central Fire Station and Pearl High School. Marcie has taken over as the queen of produce at Doris Berry’s Farmer’s Market. When the business moved, Doris said she’d be there until she died, and her customers, most of them friends, followed her to Pearl.
“This is all I know, going to the market,” she said. “I enjoy it, and I get to see people.”
When Doris passed away in August 2018, the business shut down for a day and a half for the visitation and funeral.
“She would never have stood for that,” laughs Marcie.
That’s because the business rarely closes. It’s open seven days a week except for New Year’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And Marcie is there, selling fresh produce and other things every single day. She drives from Brookhaven daily to run the business.
I miss Aunt Doris every day,” says Marcie. “I learned so much from her. She did this for seventy years, and she was sharp as a tack to the very end.”
Marcie now stands in Doris’s place, and she has just as many loyal customers who drive from all over the tri-county area to shop with her.
“I love it,” she says.
“Aunt Doris had a good work ethic, and she instilled it in all of us,” Marcie says it is very much a family business.
Doris’s two sons, Mack and John, work there, as does Marcie’s daughter, Regina Whittington, and her cousin, Cindy Hunt.
“Doris’s children, nieces, and great-nieces all work here. I get to see my family every day!” Marcie explains that their fathers were brothers to her Aunt Doris.
Marcie says they work with about fifteen growers, most of whom they have been doing business with for twenty years or more.
“We picked up a couple of new ones last year, but young people aren’t getting into farming that much, and the older ones are aging out.”
Doris Berry’s also sells flowers and plants in season, as well as a huge selection of jams, jellies, and Amish-made products including cottage hams, summer sausage, butter, cheese, and more. They stock farm-fresh eggs, local honey, and a freezer stocked with fresh frozen vegetables and heat-and-eat casseroles.
As the seasons change, various items will cycle in such as pecans, pumpkins, gourds, and more.
