• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Shop Local, Eat Fresh at the Saratoga Farmers' Market | Food, Crafts, Music in Saratoga Springs

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

  • Markets
    • Winter Market
    • Saratoga Outdoor Markets
    • Clifton Park Market
  • Vendors
    • Become A Vendor
    • Winter Vendors
    • Saratoga Outdoor Vendors
    • Clifton Park Vendors
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs & Events
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Summer Internships
    • Compost Collection
    • Workshops
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
  • Contact Us

Franklin Community Center

Going Green at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

October 14, 2019 By marketeditor

By Catherine Morba

Since 1994, the number of registered farmers’ markets nationwide has increased from under 2,000 to more than 8,600. Communities have renewed interest in eating locally grown food, a change that for many is motivated by the desire to be more environmentally conscious. At its core, buying local is a sustainable choice because of reduced transportation and food packaging. There are simple ways to make market shopping that much more (or rather, less!) impactful on the planet. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market collaborated with Sustainable Saratoga to compile tips for shoppers to be as “green” as the leafy collards we covet.

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

1. Write a shopping list: Check the refrigerator to see what groceries you already have before leaving the house. A list will also limit the number of shopping trips you’ll take for forgotten items throughout the week.

2. Carpool: Trade off driving with family and friends to save on mileage and emissions. Bike or walk if you are able! Remember that on November 2nd, the market will move to Wilton Mall, where it will be held from 9:30-1:30 every Saturday in front of the Bon Ton entrance.

3. Take a bag, leave a bag: Have a stock of reusable bags at the ready. The Friends of the Market volunteers offer a “take a bag, leave a bag” initiative for those who forget to bring them, and also accepts donations of reusable totes.

Battenkill Valley Creamery, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

4. Return packaging: When making a purchase, ask the vendor if they reuse packaging. Battenkill Creamery sterilizes and reuses all of their glass dairy bottles that are rinsed and returned by customers. Bring back egg cartons, berry boxes, plastic planters, glassware, or rubber bands. Dump sturdier produce into a bag and return the packaging on the spot.

5. Buy in bulk: Buying large quantities of staple items saves on packaging, especially when you bring containers from home. Vegetables, cheeses, and meats can be repackaged and frozen for later use.

6. Contribute Compost: Divert food from the waste stream by bringing food scraps from home to add to the market compost bin, located near the market administrator’s table. The compost is brought to the Franklin Community Center and used for soil enrichment in their community garden.

Gomez Veggie Ville, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

7. Ask a vendor: If you’re looking for tips on proper food storage, returning packaging, buying in bulk, or cooking seasonal recipes, the best source of information is the person who grew, raised, or made the product.

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: Battenkill Valley Creamery, Franklin Community Center, Friends of the Market, Gomez Veggie Ville, green, sustainability, sustainable, Sustainable Saratoga, tips

Spirit of Sharing Fills Saratoga Farmers’ Market

August 27, 2019 By marketeditor

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.

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: Bicycle Benefits, Euro Delicacies, Farmers Market Nutrition Program, FMNP, Franklin Community Center, Friends of the Market, Mangiamo, volunteering

Farmers Fill Franklin Community Center Food Pantry

September 26, 2017 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Franklin Community Center’s Fresh Produce Day, photo by Pattie Garrett

Every Saturday at the end of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, volunteers collect some of the best of our local bounty: apples, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and maple syrup, among other items. These donated goods go from the farmers directly to the food pantry at the Franklin Community Center.

I began facilitating this project last fall, after the farmers’ market and food pantry established a partnership, and currently collect 75 to 125 pounds of locally grown or made goods every week.

“This partnership ensures that food is not wasted,” says Julie Slovic, Franklin center’s food program administration. “Our customers are very grateful and excited to have access to these products. It is a great opportunity to introduce produce they may not be familiar with and discuss the health benefits and simple and easy ways to prepare fresh vegetables.”

Farmers see the donations as an opportunity to help those in need. The project also ensures that highly perishable produce will not go to waste. This reduction of food waste is especially valuable at times of year when items such as nutritious salad greens are in plentiful supply at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market but often limited for food pantry clients.

How does the project work? At market’s end, farmers and I chat about their unsold goods and the pantry needs. They donate items if and when they can. I then take these donations to the pantry, where I weigh, sort, and label the items by name, farm, and “use by” dates. I store the items so they will remain fresh for three or four days – refrigerators for greens, apples, and fresh herbs; shelves away from direct sunlight for tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini.

If the items are unusual – say tatsoi or kohlrabi – I create a cooking tip for volunteers who arrive Monday morning to pass on to customers.

Franklin Community Center’s garden harvest, photo by Pattie Garrett

Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendors also provide seedlings in the spring to support the Franklin Community Center’s garden, another source of fresh food for the pantry. The garden through the summer yielded zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, beans, and herbs. Now, as fall approaches, we are harvesting chard and kale, and looking forward to our first baby pumpkins.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park through October. You also can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Filed Under: Featured Article, News Tagged With: food donations, food pantries, Franklin Community Center, fresh produce, Friends of the Market, giving back to the community, Saratoga Farmers' Market, volunteers

Before Footer

Instagram

Have you ever made Linzer cookies? Check out this Have you ever made Linzer cookies?  Check out this recipe at the site and then plan to wander over to the market this weekend for some farm fresh eggs, perpetual vanilla and jams before you get started baking these delicious bites...
https://www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/linzer-cookies-2/
#saratogafarmersmarket #saratogafarmersmarket🔆 #linzercookies❤️ #farmfreshproducts
We hope you will join us for our holiday artist fa We hope you will join us for our holiday artist fair this weekend! 
Local artists will be joining our amazing vendors for one week only!
#saratogafarmersmarket #saratogafarmersmarket🔆 #holidayartistfair #localartistfair
Do you live in the City of Saratoga Springs? If y Do you live in the City of Saratoga Springs?  If you do please vote for us to become part of this special city funding so that we can add a Fresh Tent to our Market. 
This funding will allow us to provide a FRESH TENT that will include not just the supplies to make it happen, but taste testings and recipes for the community, education for children and a $2 coupon when we host the Fresh Tent which will be for 8 weeks in duration.
We need your support to make this happen and appreciate everyone who takes the time to vote for the Saratoga Farmers' Market.
#saratogafarmersmarket #saratogafarmersmarket🔆
We are here today! Amazing music … fantastic ve We are here today!  Amazing music … fantastic vendors … added crafters … and we’re here until 1:30!
#saratogafarmersmarket

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

With support from our friends at:

Copyright © 2023 · Saratoga Farmers Market · Design by REACH CREATIVE

    COVID-19: Check our latest Safety Guidelines!
  • Markets
    • Winter Market
    • Saratoga Outdoor Markets
    • Clifton Park Market
  • Vendors
    • Become A Vendor
    • Winter Vendors
    • Saratoga Outdoor Vendors
    • Clifton Park Vendors
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs & Events
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Summer Internships
    • Compost Collection
    • Workshops
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
  • Contact Us