Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska, Nebraska Extension celebrating national farmers market week 2022

Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska, Nebraska Extension celebrating national farmers market week 2022
August 9th, 2022 | IANR News

Nebraska’s 90-plus farmers markets are local sources of good food, community pride and economic activity.

Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska and Nebraska Extension join farmers markets across the country in celebrating National Farmers Market Week from Aug. 7-13, 2022. By using the interactive, dual-language map found online at gotogrow.org and vamosapoyar.org Nebraskans can find farmers markets in their community and support them with a visit during Farmers Market Week. This website was developed from a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant awarded to Nebraska Extension, in collaboration with Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska and the Center for Rural Affairs.

In the midst of a global pandemic, Nebraska farmers markets — like all other small businesses — have innovated to continue operations for the farmers and communities that depend on them. Farmers markets foster direct relationships between community members and farmers which can work to create a more fair and sustainable food system.

National Farmers Market Week is an annual celebration of farmers markets coordinated by the Farmers Market Coalition, a membership-based nonprofit organization that supports farmers markets nationwide through training, technical assistance, and network-building. This year, the campaign is centered around the essential role that farmers market operators play in our local food systems and in developing resilience in communities as hubs for local economies and connection.

Markets across Nebraska are excelling in their roles as community hubs and connectors. In 2022 the Seward Farmers’ Market on the Square became one of a few markets in the state certified to accept SNAP payments. They also participate in the Double Up Food Bucks incentive program and accept Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Checks. These and other initiatives ensure that more Nebraskans have access to fresh, local food. The adoption of these programs at farmers markets is a huge win for community members and vendors; note ony do people have access to fresh, local food, but farmers also sell more products.

In addition to programs that make locally grown food more accessible, many markets offer other community-centered activities. For the past two years, the Beatrice Farmers’ Market has contributed to a Garden Produce Rescue Program, where vendors can donate items at the end of every market that are then distributed to local seniors, veterans and the Salvation Army. By the third week of the 2022 program, vendors at the market donated more than 200 pounds of produce, baked goods, and local beef.

The Dixon County Farmers’ Market in Ponca, Nebraska holds free classes and educational activities at the market, ranging from cooking and food preservation demonstrations, to disaster preparedness activities. These types of programs and activities support the markets’ goals of providing educational and social experiences to their communities.

“Farmers markets are abundant sources of food, connection and resilience in our communities across the country, but they don’t just happen on their own,” said Ben Feldman, Farmers Market Coalition Executive Director. “Behind the scenes of every successful farmers market is a dedicated person or team working to make the market thrive.”

Farmers’ markets are an essential and much loved part of our state. They are spaces where food, community pride, economic opportunities and health come together. Support them during Farmers’ Market Week and beyond. Find your market and go to grow Nebraska farmers markets by visiting gotogrow.org or vamosapoyar.org

Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska connects consumers to locally grown food. Its mission is to increase the demand of local food in the state, resulting in stable, thriving, direct-market farms, ranches and local food businesses. BFBLN accomplishes their mission through educational and promotional projects and resources. We are proud to be a program of the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center, and the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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