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food and nutrition

Learning the Power of Produce

June 18, 2019 By marketeditor

Power of Produce Club, photo by Pattie Garrett

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

School’s out for the summer. No lunchboxes to fill, no homework, fewer structured activities, and more free time. It’s a perfect time to add a Wednesday family outing to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market for the Power of Produce Club.

Power of Produce, or POP, is a free 12-week program at the market. It begins next Wednesday, June 26, and runs through early September. The goal is to help children learn more about where their food comes from.

POP Coin

Children can join the POP Club by visiting the Saratoga Farmers’ Market with their parents. Each time members visit the market they receive a $2 POP coin that can be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, children receive a POP passport that is stamped at each visit. After receiving four stamps, children are eligible for a prize. Although the club is open to children, it is especially geared toward those aged 5-12.

Buying produce with a POP coin gives children a chance to meet farmers, learn money skills, and make smart food choices.

In addition to the POP coins, the POP Club features weekly activities and music. The Christopher Dailey Foundation sponsors the program and several community partners host the club’s activities. Opening day will feature music by first-time market performer Jeannine Ouderkirk, a Humpty Dumpty craft activity sponsored by the Saratoga Springs Public Library, and a sampling of Shushan Hydro Farms’ cherry tomatoes.

Friends of the Market host POP Club, photo by Pattie Garrett

Julia Howard, formerly the market coordinator, started the POP Club at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market four years ago. This summer, her five-year-old daughter Taiga will be a club member.

“With a climate crisis and pesticide-ridden foods in our present day, it’s so important that children understand where their food comes from,” Howard says. “It’s important that we give them the tools to be involved in agriculture and community, to help them understand the impacts of climate change. The POP Club is a great outlet for children to get involved and to learn how to make changes on a local and worldwide level.”

To join, look for the green POP Club tent at the Wednesday market, across from the market information booth.

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: Christopher Dailey Foundation, food and nutrition, kids activity, POP Club, Power of Produce Club, Saratoga Springs Public Library, Shushan Valley Hydro Farm, SSPL, Summer

Warming Up the Winter with Saratoga Farmers’ Market Foods

January 25, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Puckers Gourmet, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

How can you use the foods grown and raised by local farmers at the coldest time of year to create meals that are healthy, warm, and pleasing to the palate?

“Bake an apple,” recommends Christine Gaud, of Saratoga Apple.

Gaud cuts out the core of an apple and fills it with a dab of butter and some nuts. She places the fruit in her wood-fired oven and lets it bake until it softens. “Sometimes, it takes 15 minutes, sometimes 20,” she says.

You don’t need a wood-fired oven to do this. Following Gaud’s advice, I baked a Cortland apple at 350 degrees until it was soft to the touch. After it had cooled, I used a spoon to scoop out the inner flesh, which blended beautifully into a soft and silky custard-like concoction with the butter and chopped walnuts I added in.

“Load up on probiotics,” suggests Kelley Hillis, of Puckers’ Gourmet Pickles. As she notes, probiotics – which are abundant in such foods as her naturally fermented pickled vegetables – help strengthen the immune system, which is vital to staying healthy through the winter. On top of that, the pickles taste tangy and crunchy. While pickles often are regarded as a condiment, Hillis suggests adding them to sandwiches, tacos, or salads or eating them as a vegetable side.

“Many people have told me that they like to cut up my dill sours, for instance, and add them to a chicken or a tuna sandwich,” says Hillis.

And there’s soup. “Healthy and easy,” says Jennifer Czelusniak, of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service, who was serving samples of potato leek soup last Saturday. Czelusniak notes that planning a soup as part of a weekly menu means you don’t have to worry about what to use. “You can make a soup with almost any vegetable, a little oil or butter, and some broth.”

Frozen meats, aged cheeses, fresh fish, root vegetables, and greenhouse-grown salad greens, spinach and kale also are available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market year round.

“Winter is a great time to try something different,” says Czelusniak. “Visit the market, talk to farmers. You might discover something new.”

Visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in Saratoga Spa State Park; follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; and contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities.

Filed Under: Featured Article, News, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cornell Cooperative Extension, food and nutrition, probiotics, Puckers Gourmet Pickles, Saratoga Apple, Saratoga Farmers' Market, seasonal snacks, soups, winter eating, winter produce

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Instagram

A wonderful sunny market day! We have plenty of p A wonderful sunny market day!

We have plenty of produce in season, with tomatoes being the star of the show 🍅✨ With dozens of different varieties from our vendors, you’ll find plenty to make shakshuka (recipe on our website from last week!), sandwiches, soups, and more 🙂 

Corn and zucchini are also in season, perfect for a summer salad 🌽🥗

We hope to see you at High Rock Park today from 9-1!
It’s National Farmers’ market week! Stop by an It’s National Farmers’ market week! Stop by and celebrate with us tomorrow from 9-1 at High Rock Park! We will be joined by Saratoga’s Office for the Aging, CDPHP Comfort Food Community, Bicycle Benefits, the Academy for Life Long Learning and CCE Master Gardener! Tomorrows musicians are the Acorns and Running the River 🎉 Hope to see you there!

#saratogafarmersmarket #shopsmall #farmtotable #summer #agriculture #tomatoes #sweetcorn #saratogasprings #farmersmarket
Join us for POP Kids’ Club week 6! 4-H Robotics Join us for POP Kids’ Club week 6!

4-H Robotics Group will be bringing plenty of robots for kids to watch, play with, and even operate 🤖 Along with a larger robot that can be driven around!

We’ll also have supplies out for kids to construct their own designs with some produce and toothpicks 🍎🥦🛠

We hope to see you at High Rock Park tomorrow, Wednesday 8/3, any time between 3-6pm!
🫐🫐🫐 There are so many great vendors and p 🫐🫐🫐
There are so many great vendors and products here today for our Blueberry Festival!

We have…
Blueberry Lime jam from Kokinda Farm
Blueberry Lavender Lemonade from Slate Valley Farm
Blueberry hand pies from Nightwork Bread
Blueberry “woofles” from Mugsy’s Barkery
Adirondack Jill PB (with blueberries!) from Saratoga Peanut Butter Co.
Blueberry stickers
Fun crafts
And more!

We hope to see you today at High Rock, we’ll be here until 1! ☀️

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