Saratoga Farmers' Market

FMNP

Spirit of Sharing Fills Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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By Elizabeth Horgan

Euro Delicacies, photo by Pattie Garrett

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is a great opportunity to meet up with others as you shop for the week. If you spend enough time at the market, you will start to see the sense of community that vendors share with each other as well as their customers. When shopping for ingredients to fill her ravioli, Mangiamo’s Rose Contadino stops by Halls Pond Farm, the produce vendor five steps from her stall. Meanwhile, Armin and Zinta Hrelja of Euro Delicacies use apples from Saratoga Apple for their apple strudel.

The vendors not only support each other but also the community. At the end of the Wednesday and Saturday markets, Squashville Farm’s Himanee Gupta-Carlson goes around to vendors to collect donations for the Franklin Community Center’s food pantry. Gupta-Carlson also coordinates a garden for the pantry. Meanwhile, Jim Gupta-Carlson facilitates the market’s compost collection program.

Owl Wood Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

The market is a strong advocate of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, which distributes $4 coupons for produce to lower-income seniors and others, as well as the Fresh Connect program that provides SNAP recipients an additional $2 for every $5 of EBT tokens purchased at the market.

The market also connects with the community in other ways. Through a partnership with the Bicycle Benefits program, market-goers can purchase a $5 sticker and take advantage of discounts at local businesses. This is part of an effort to encourage the use of bicycles as a source of transportation through the incentive of discounts at local businesses if you show your sticker and that you biked to their location. At the market, participants in the Bicycle Benefits program receive a $2 token to purchase produce or other items.

Chris Toole and Alexandra Morgan are conveners of the Friends of the Market volunteer program, whose members assist market-goers with the transport of purchases from the market to cars, offer vendors the chance to take short breaks, and support the market in other ways. They are eager to welcome new volunteers, and those who are interested can stop by the market shed or e-mail volunteers@saratogafarmersmarket.org. Volunteering at the market has shown them what farmers go through to get their produce from the farms into people’s homes.

Farmers’ markets and food security

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

New York State’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program begins this month. Through it, individuals who face economic hardship can receive $4 coupons to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and herbs at participating farmers’ markets.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is among the many farmers’ markets taking part in the program. It also is among its strongest advocates.

“Many of our vendors are farmers with social consciences,” says events coordinator Julia Howard. “They see their work of growing healthy foods as part of a larger vision to feed their communities. The FMNP helps make that goal more possible.”

Pleasant Valley Farm accepts FMNP coupons for fruit and vegetables, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

The coupons come in books of five. They are distributed through such outlets as Saratoga County’s Office of the Aging as well as the state’s Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC. The county’s Office of the Aging will distribute coupons on site at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market at designated dates this summer.

Individuals over age 60 can request coupons, as well as younger persons who participate in WIC.

The state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets describes the program as a means of promoting food security. It helps those who are economically distressed gain more access to healthy, locally grown fresh foods. At the same time, it generates income for local farmers and supports farmers’ markets as community venues.

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Using the coupons is simple. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, participating vendors display signs at their stalls that indicate their acceptance of FMNP coupons. Customers can redeem the coupons for fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and mushrooms in $4 increments.

Farmers work with customers to maximize the coupons’ value.

For instance, a large basket of potatoes might cost $5. A customer can use a $4 coupon to buy the potatoes and add an additional dollar of cash, or request that the vendor reduce the amount of potatoes so that the price comes to $4. In a different scenario, a bunch of kale might cost $3. The vendor might add a little more to the bunch to equal $4 or add a separate item such as an apple.

The overall goal is to ensure that more people have access to local food.