Tag Archive | southeast area farmers market

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market and Food Justice

Mr. Henry selling organic collards, kale, mustard and sweet potato greens at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market.

While most farmers’ markets have a business goal in mind, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market’s main goal is food justice. Increasing access to healthy food in Grand Rapids’ southeast neighborhoods is the market’s food justice goal.

Food Justice grew out of the Environmental Justice movement, where communities of color and poor working class people began to realize that their lack of access to healthy and affordable food was not the result of their own behavior, but of a food system that was motivated by profit. It’s not that our neighborhoods are food deserts. Rather, they are victims of food apartheid.

If you’d like to discover more information about food justice, visit the OKT website to see the entire OKT Food Justice Series. The series includes information on the Farm Bill, GMOs, food workers’ rights, climate change and food justice, the impact women of color have had on the food justice movement and more.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at Gerald R Ford Academic Center through November 8. The market warmly welcomes SNAP/EBT, Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) and WIC & Sr. ProjectFresh as well as cash and debit cards.

Stop by Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Friday & Saturday!

Jun26

The market is up and running! Market manager, Dorothy Griswold, notes that three vendors–Real Food Farms, Ms. Yvonne Woodard and Blandford Farm–will be on hand selling lettuces, kale, kohlrabi, scallions, tomatoes and summer squash.

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market operates on two days at two locations:

Fridays, 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, Burton Street and Madison Avenue SE.
Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Academic Center, Madison Avenue just south of Franklin Street SE.

Both market sites accept SNAP/EBT, Double Up Food Bucks and WIC & Sr. ProjectFresh as well as cash and debit cards.

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market season starts today!

Jun20

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market season runs from today through November 8. Tolberts SEAFM 11-8

Fridays, 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, Burton Street and Madison Avenue SE.
Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Academic Center, Madison Avenue just south of Franklin Street SE.

Both market sites will feature local, chemical free produce and accept SNAP/EBT, Double Up Food Bucks and WIC & Sr. ProjectFresh as well as cash and debit cards.

We hope to see you there!

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market kicks-off season June 20

Jun11

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market kicks off its 2014 season June 20. The market will continue at its previous locations:

· Fridays, 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, Burton Street and Madison Avenue SE.

· Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Academic Center, Madison Avenue just south of Franklin Street SE.

Both market sites will feature local, chemical free produce and accept SNAP/EBT, Double Up Food Bucks and WIC & Sr. ProjectFresh as well as cash and debit cards.

This marks the fourth year that local food justice non-profit, Our Kitchen Table (OKT), has managed the market in partnership with the Kent County Health Department and Greater Grand Rapids Food System Council.OKT has hired Dorothy Griswold as the market’s new manager. Griswold has been working in the local food movement in Grand Rapids for 11 years. She actually helped to found the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market when it first opened nearly a decade ago.

2014 OKT-sponsored market events

· June 28 Summer Celebration with special activities and music.

· July 10, 11 & 12 and Sept. 4 & 6, Urban Foraging Workshop.

· Aug. 1& 2, Make Your Own Personal Care Items Workshop

· Sept. 18 & 20, Art at the Market

· Oct. 11, Greens Cook-off and Fried Green Tomato Festival

· Oct. 16& 18, World Food Day Activities

· Oct. 25, Fall Celebration

Dorothy Griswold named new Southeast Area Farmers Market manager

Apr18

OKT has hired Dorothy Griswold as the new Market Manager for the Southeast Area Farmers Market. Dorothy has been working in the local food movement in Grand Rapids for 11 years. She actually helped to found the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market when it first opened.

Dorothy grew up near the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, Maryland. On Saturdays and Sundays, her family shopped farm stands to get produce for the week. “I never feel more at home, at peace or happy, than I do when I walk through the stalls of farmers markets,” she says. “I hope SEAFM can become just this kind of experience for the neighbors it serves.”

During a “farm market pilgrimage” to New York City, Dorothy explored the city’s Greenmarkets. She rode the subway for a day to visit the various markets and meet market managers, including one that operated at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.

935497_10200588552048676_2108422669_n(1)

Dorothy Griswold

Dorothy has had a vegetable garden at every place she’s lived. She joined Trillium Haven Farm in its first year as a working shareholder and intern. “I love to cook, especially ethnic dishes. I love learning about other cultures through their food,” she says. “I think fresh locally grown produce is beautiful and think photos of food should be on billboards and everywhere else you can think of!”

Well House hosting farmers’ market on Wednesdays

Oct7

Well House urban gardener, Camilla Voelker, vending at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market.

Market operates Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. at 600 Cass Avenue SE.

In addition to vending at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market, Well House is now hosting its own farmers’ market, Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. at 600 Cass Avenue SE. Well House works with homeless people by providing safe, affordable, long-term housing. Thirteen people currently call Well House home. “We are sensitive to the very limited options for finding healthy, nutritious food in our neighborhood,” says Camilla Voelker, Well House urban gardener. “We are growing that kind of food at Well House, organically and spray-free, and using the space as a place to learn how to grow, prepare and preserve food.”

The Well House market will offer canned goods, seeds, seedlings and
fresh produce. Groundswell Farm will also offer fresh produce at the
market on occasion. In addition, those visiting the market can sign up
for upcoming food justice workshops. “The idea behind this market is
to connect the food stuffs grown and made at Well House with our
neighbors,” Voelker said.

Well House also shares gardening skills and resources with tenants and
neighbors so they can grow, prepare and preserve their own fresh,
nutritious food. Its organic garden uses heirloom seeds that are saved
from year to year, securing food for years to come. These seeds have
not been tampered with, that is they have no genetic modifications for
disease or pest resistance.

The Well House farm staff recently built 30 raised beds on two vacant
lots on Pleasant and Sheldon acquired from the Kent County Land Bank.
This Well House Neighborhood Garden is open to neighbors who want to
grow their own food—or benefit from what grows there. For information,
email contact@wellhousegr.org or call 616-245-3910.

Enter your dish to win at the Greens Cook-off and Fried Green Tomato Festival

Sep30

Donna King (right) won first place at the 2012 cook-off with her greens and cornbread.

The Southeast Area Farmer’s Market hosts its annual Greens Cook-off and Fried Green Tomato Festival from 12 to 2 p.m. Saturday October 12 at Gerald R Ford School, Madison Avenue just south of Franklin Street. Do you have a delicious family collard or turnip greens recipe? Are your fried green tomatoes as good as your granny’s? Enter to win! Our local celebrity judges will taste and evaluate the dishes for taste, texture, nutritional content, presentation and wow factor.

You don’t have to register ahead of time. Simply bring your dish to the designated table at the farmers’ market and register on site. Our Kitchen Table (OKT) will present prizes for first place, second place and honorable mention in two categories, greens and green tomatoes, at the market on Saturday October 19.

Even if you don’t enter the contest, stop by to watch cooking demos and sample delicious greens and green tomato dishes. In addition, OKT will hand out free green tomato cookbooks and recipe cards. For information on the Greens Cook-off and Fried Green Tomato Festival, email oktable1@gmail.com or call 616-206-3641.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is open Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, Madison Avenue and Burton Street, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at Gerald R Ford School, Madison Avenue and Franklin Street.

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Upcoming Events

Sep3

Kids going back to school herald the end of summer, but not the end of the farmers’ market season. The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market has fresh local produce and market activities that support your family’s good health.

Calling all artists!
On Saturday September 7, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market hosts Art at the Market, a showcase of local talent. If you draw, paint, sculpt or create in any other medium, we invite you to join us. Contact Our Kitchen Table for more details, OKTable1@gmail.com or 616-206-3641.

Healthy meals and snacks!
Do you ever wonder what to do with all those fresh veggies you just bought at the market? On September 28, the market will host cooking demos featuring easy recipes made with in-season, fresh produce.

Double your buying power!
Like many others farmers’ markets in town, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market participates in the Double Up Food Bucks program. Patrons shopping with a Bridge Card (SNAP) receive $2 for every $2 spent on Michigan produce, up to $20 in free Michigan produce each time you visit. The market also accepts WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and Kent County Health Department coupons.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market takes place Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford School. The Friday Farm Stand at Garfield Park is open 3 to 7 p.m.

Market vendor a veteran, former baseball pro and great grandfather

Aug23

The Price is right! Mr. Price selling Watkins at the farmers’ market.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is open to more than only food vendors. On any given market day, you might find handcrafted aprons and jump ropes, local artisan-made body care products or hand-crafted jewelry. One of this year’s new vendors, Roscoe Price, fills his market tables with Watkins products, including spices, extracts, oils, and seasonings. If you have shopped the Fulton Street farmers’ market, you may have seen him as he has been vending there for the past 20 years. In addition to selling Watkins, Mr. Price calls bingo at the senior living community where he and his wife now live.

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Price moved to Michigan more than 50 years ago to play baseball after a stint in the Marine Corps. He has been married to the same lovely woman for 60 years and counts six children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren as special blessings.

Mr. Price has much wisdom and many amazing stories to tell. Next time you are at the market, be sure to stop by his table and strike up a conversation. Now that the Michigan growing season is in full swing, you will also find a greater variety of fresh, locally grown produce at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market.

Market hours are Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Middle School and Friday Farm Stand 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park. The market welcomes Debit Card, WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and Bridge Cards/SNAP. The market also participates in the Double Up Food Bucks program. When you buy your Michigan produce with your Bridge Card, you can receive $2 in purchase tokens for every $1 you spend, up to $20 each time you visit a farmers’ market.

Market Celebration a Fun Community Success!

Jul30

Last Saturday, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market celebrated community with its annual Grand Opening Celebration. Market Manager Roni VanBuren and the market team put together a wonderful day for community to celebrate healthy foods and healthy fun.

Activities began with El Amin’s blessing of the market. As he poured out water as an offering, his blessing called to remembrance community members’ roots in Africa, the times of slavery, sharecropping and migration north to cities like Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids musician and artist, Derrick “Vito” Hollowell, spun tunes that kept the market atmosphere mellow and upbeat. Urban farmer and kitchen coach, Anja Mast demonstrated how to make easy greens smoothies and raw kale pasta salad. The samples went quick! And, the Jewels of Western Michigan wowed the crowd with African Dance and Drumming.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.