Free-will offering breakfast provided each Saturday
A new farmer’s market has popped up in Holmes City, and it includes a free-will offering breakfast each Saturday morning. Photo by Deb Schneider.
The development of the Holmes City Farmer’s Market is a lot like the old story of the man who made stone soup. He just started boiling one stone and soon all those around him came to add to the “pot” to make a very delicious soup.
Holmes City Farmer’s Market now has “onions, carrots, celery and potatoes” with the stone started last year by Trinity Lutheran member Dee Lemmon. Lemmon has a big garden, and she wanted to try to sell a little of her excess produce in a small corner of the parking lot.
When council member Pam Erickson heard her idea, she expanded upon it and invited all local farmers and producers to come and join in every Saturday from 9 to noon all last summer through September.
“It took a little while for people to find it, but little by little people started coming and staying for a cup of coffee and conversation on the picnic tables,” said Diane Kratz, who has also been helping with the new farmer’s market.
At the end of the season a member of Public Health stopped by to let us know that a grant was available to help in getting the market off to a better start next year. Pam applied, but nothing happened. It was considered a lost cause. Then Kratz heard from a friend that funds were still available. They applied again, and this time Holmes City Farmer’s Market was awarded a $2,000 grant to help with advertising, equipment, and any expenses incurred to get the market up and running.
The committee decided that a large part of the grant would be used to purchase food for a nutritious breakfast served through Trinity Lutheran Church every Saturday in conjunction with the market. And not just the typical pancake breakfast, but a nutritious meal with protein, fruits, cheese and vegetables, ideally purchased from participating vendors.
“This group became committed to serving organic, whole grain, farm fresh products whenever possible with the money from the grant and offer this breakfast to the public for a free-will donation,” said Kratz.
Any money raised from these breakfasts will be donated to Trinity Lutheran’s building fund, since the church just finished adding on a new, handicapped-accessible dining area two years ago.
Each week we are joined by more and more vendors, and word is starting to spread about the breakfast.
There are several goals tied in with the farmer’s market. One is to provide education on how to cook fresh produce and how to develop a healthy diet. Another goal is to provide good nutrition for low-income families, first through their free-will offering breakfasts and secondly by working on another grant to enable the market to process SNAP benefits for those who are on the food assistance program.
“We have just received word that our grant has been approved for this program and will be receiving training and an EBT machine in the near future—we hope to be up and running with this in early August,” said Kratz.
The Holmes City Farmer’s Market will be open each Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon through the harvest season.
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