Lane County Farmers Market hosts Pepper Fest with chile-eating contest

The Lane County Farmers Market will host Pepper Fest, Sept. 18, as part of the monthly Thursday Night Market. The “Nightshade to Remember” event will raise awareness of the variety of peppers available at the farmers market, and feature a chile-eating contest to test tolerance for capsaicin-induced pain. About 50 pepper varieties will be available for sale, along with a live chile-roasting demonstration. 

Ben Tilley Jr., president and treasurer of the Lane County Farmers Market board of directors, also owns Crossroads Farm, which specializes in chiles. 

“We’re going to ruin people!” Tilley said, with a laugh, about the competition. “There are people out there who enjoy the high they get from peppers.”

The endorphin rush of peppers

Capsaicin is the chemical in peppers that sends a pain signal to the brain, which interprets it as a burning sensation, even though there’s no actual fire.

“That’s why people start tearing up and salivating,” Tilley said. “Your body, your brain, thinks it’s on fire and is trying to stop whatever you’re doing.” 

For some people, Tilley said, the pain provides an endorphin rush, like bungee jumping or downhill skiing. 

“For those with a high pain tolerance, it’s really just an incredibly exciting experience,” Tilley said. “For the rest of us, it looks like they’re torturing themselves.”

The contest will feature 10 rounds of increasingly hot peppers, beginning with jalapeños and culminating with Carolina Reapers, currently among the world’s hottest peppers. Participants will not be allowed to consume anything to help fight the burning sensation without being eliminated. Two other chile growers, Humble Heart and Loud Peppers, will also contribute peppers to the contest.

Tilley has capped participants at 12, lured by cash prizes as well as gift certificates to local restaurants, and, of course, bragging rights. If more than one competitor makes it through the final round, Tilley said he has a way to crown a winner.

“I won’t really say anything, but, I do have some surprises,” he said.

From beer to peppers

Tilley’s parents, Debbie and Ben Tilley Sr., moved to the farm’s 25 acres in 1985. Ben Tilley Jr. began attending the Lane County Farmers Market 39 years ago at age 9, along with his mother, who sold flowers and produce. From about 2012 to 2019, the family operated Agrarian Ales, which produced craft beers using hops and herbs grown on their farm. 

In 2002, Tilley started a chile-roasting business, and the farm became known for its chile varieties and value-added products made from chiles, such as chili powder and hot sauces. Today, the farm grows about 65 varieties of chiles. The younger Tilley worked for 20 years as a natural resource specialist for the Department of Energy before taking over the chile business after his parents retired earlier this year.

“I try to curate the chiles I grow for every type of culturally specific cuisine I can come up with so that people want my products and can actually afford them,” Tilley said. “We’re still pretty small-scale, so McCormick chili powder in the grocery store costs one-tenth of the price of mine. But if you can recognize the difference in quality and taste and value the locality of things, which a lot of restaurants and food carts do in this town, then we get phone calls.”

Crossroads supplies approximately 20 food carts and a dozen restaurants in the area with fresh chiles, dried powders and hot sauces. At the Saturday Farmers Market during late summer, Tilley roasts fresh peppers, which are available for purchase. 

Tilley plans to rebrand as Tilley’s Chiles next year. 

“We were born to do that,” he said, about the natural fit between his family’s last name and his food crop.

Pepper Fest
Sept. 18, 5-9 p.m.
Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion at Eighth and Oak
During the September Night Market