Market News - September 23, 2008
From the Market Manager
Our weather karma almost held out last week. We had a deluge prior to the opening of the market, a little more rain and then it cleared up for the last 4 hours. So, thanks to all of you who showed up. The farmers sold more by being there than if they hadn’t shown up.Six more weeks left to this market season. Every week we have new customers. I hope that it only takes one visit to the market to make a regular customer out of them. I don’t know about you, but I am seldom at the grocery store this time of year.
Farm to CafeteriaFor several years now there has been a movement which is making progress in getting local food into school and business cafeterias. By purchasing locally grown/raised food participants can cut back on fruits and vegetables purchased from large distributors in favor of working individually with local farmers.
That can be more expensive and may involve more work—from procurement to preparation—food directors are saying that it pays dividends in fresher, better-tasting produce that more kids eat.Signing up more kids for school lunches can help the bottom line as schools receive a per-student subsidy from the Agriculture Department’s National School Lunch Program. At the same schools are bolstering local regional agricultural economies.
One school system in Saratoga Springs, NY is going to bring some farmers into classes to talk about agriculture this school year. They want their students to know where their food comes from.I remember when I had a Fresh Air child from New York City one summer many years ago, I took him with my own children to a nearby farm and asked at the farm stand if I could bring them into the field to show them how some vegetables grew. The boy from New York was stunned to see food coming out of the ground.
There are challenges to having the farm to cafeteria program. It is often more expensive as small farmers have higher production costs. It takes more effort to prepare a fruit or vegetable “from scratch.0” Another challenge is that buying local means that the menus have to be adjusted to local growing seasons.If you’d like additional information about this go to the Community Food Security Coalition website. They’ve been working on this issue for years.
Celery, Corn, etc.Not a lot of growers grow celery in our area as it’s not as mild or broad stemmed as what we see in the grocery stores. But, it is SO flavorful. If you like to cook with celery, I recommend that you buy some from Red Fire Farm, the only farmer at our market who grows it. Make sure you use some of the leaves also.
Last week, 10 days after purchasing some corn from Riverbend Farm, I cooked the last two ears. I thought I had them, but they were buried in the ‘fridge. So, I thought it would be starchy, but decided to cook them anyhow. It was delicious. Rick said that his variety is Providence, and although the seed is more expensive than many others, he likes it because it stays sweet. I’ll second that.Before you cook your winter squash, poke a couple of holes in it with a knife and microwave it for about 8-10 minutes. Let it cool and then you will be able to cut it easily.
I hope you try many varieties of squash as they are all a little different from each other.Emergency Preparedness: Individual and Family Survival
The Springfield Department of Health & Human Services will be having neighborhood trainings to introduce you, your family and neighbors to emergency preparedness. Their learning objectives for this training are:
- Develop a family survival plan
- Create a family survival kit
- Know what/where resources are available
Shop for a Cause
This is the last week for the Macy’s coupons. The shopping date is September 20th at any Macy’s store. $5 for the coupon and we get to keep all of the proceeds. They are at the market table.EBT-Debit-Credit
Sorry for the difficulties last week with the wireless machine for the above cards. Turns out the machine was never programmed to take EBT cards. It will be fine this week.If you’d like to purchase lots of tokens at one time, that is perfectly fine. That way you don’t have to go to an ATM machine or run out of money while at the market. As I said last week, we are going to charge a small fee when you use your credit or debit card. It will help to defray our expenses. Each token is worth $2.50 no matter which card you use. The tokens for EBT can only be used for food, while the others can be used for anything at the market.
Gift Certificates You can purchase a gift certificate for use this year or next year. I expect that most of our vendors will return to the market next year.They are available in multiples of $2.50. It’s a great idea for someone who has too much stuff. They always have to eat.
