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When a farmers market opens in a neighborhood, the entire community benefits. These markets often act as important points of access for healthy food for community members who need it the most. This week, we’re highlighting more Arizona markets that go above and beyond in championing healthy food for all as we take part in the American Farmland Trust’s Farmers Market Celebration. Authentically Ajo Farmers Market Nina Sajovec, the Executive Director at the Authentically Ajo Farmers Market, explains how the market is serving needs that would otherwise be unmet in their community: 1. Does your farmers market/farm stand/CSA help bring fresh food to neighborhoods that need it the most? How? Yes! Ajo did not have a source of fresh, healthy, local and culturally-significant foods within a 100-mile radius, and that's why we started the market and CSA program. Ajo is a low-income tri-national border community literally in the middle of nowhere, with low job opportunities and above-average levels of diabetes, obesity and other life-style diseases. In addition, the market became the most effective micro-business incubator in our community, creating jobs and earnings opportunities for 70 vendors in the 2016/17 season alone. 2. Why is it important for farmers markets/farm stands/CSA’s to reach community members who are struggling or in-need of access to healthy food? Here is some of what we are hearing from our community members: “The first thing you notice when you walk up to the tables at the farmers market is how incredibly fresh and just beautiful the vegetables are, and that’s something you just don’t find elsewhere. To me this is what makes this movement meaningful, getting vegetables that haven’t spent any time on the truck. This food movement engenders the community spirit — the people who tend the gardens and the people you see at the market are all your neighbors, and everybody is participating so it really helps build the community spirit. I also think this has a great economic impact on our community.” - Authentically Ajo Farmers Market customer “We believe in organic and fresh produce, and we believe in supporting our local farmers. Unfortunately, in most cases, produce sold at farmers market is cost prohibitive for us. The Double Up Food Bucks program is great because it makes veggies and greens sold at the market affordable. Instead of buying one item once in a while, we now can buy several kinds of greens and vegetables and cook several meals with them. Also, instead of going to Phoenix and shopping for cheaper organic greens in a store there, we can shop locally and support business and farmers here in town.” - Authentically Ajo Farmers Market customer “The Double Up Food Bucks are awesome, they saved me during tight spots. I could say the same about kids activities. My son loves them. I do better sales when he is not distracting me.” - Authentically Ajo Farmers Market customer, mom, and market vendor “The Double Up Food Bucks program has allowed me and my kids to access fresh organic produce with our EBT. The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has nurtured healthy lifestyles throughout our community and empowered families to start their own gardens. SNAP Bucks encourage those on public assistance to stop locally and organically. Double Up Food Bucks are important to me because I am able to experiment with a variety of vegetable recipes that my kids appreciate because they know the farmers who grew it and the soil from which it came. Continuing the SNAP and Double Up programs at the farmers market is crucial to the continued efforts of everyone throughout Ajo to support healthy living and continued improvement of our kids’ health.” - Authentically Ajo Farmers Market customer 3. Does your market assist low-income neighbors, work with vulnerable seniors, donate food to local food banks or accept federal food and nutrition program benefits? The market is a project of Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture and a part of systemic programming provided by this nonprofit. We offer free education to growers and community organizations, free seeds, seedlings and compost distributions, beginning farmer training, and market vendor business assistance. We also host annual festivals and forums, a community-based seed bank and seed conservation citizen participation program (Adopt-A-Sonoran-Desert-Crop), the Many Hands Learning Center, monthly distributions and demos at the Ajo Food Bank. We support the Edible Ajo School Yard Program and work with other Ajo students on food projects on and off school campus, kids activities at the Learning Center, cooking classes and farm-to-table programming. 4. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your market’s efforts to bring healthy food to neighborhoods that need it the most? The Authentically Ajo Farmers Market has injected new energy into Ajo's life — Saturday mornings and Thursday afternoons bring together people of different backgrounds, languages, colors, ages, and races with shopping, eating and selling foods and products. And we know when people get together around common goal, other good things start happening. Food truly is a tool for community revitalization. We are grateful for all the local and regional partnerships, including Pinnacle Prevention, that allow us to organize this big event and offer SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks, and accompanying programming, and are looking forward to continue growing the market, vendors, and relationships! Nogales Mercado Farmers Market Cassalyn David, of the Nogales Mercado Farmers Market, explains the role the market plays in bringing fresh, healthy options to a food desert in southern Arizona: 1. Does your farmers market/farm stand/CSA help bring fresh food to neighborhoods that need it the most? How? The Nogales Mercado Farmers Market is located in the heart of downtown Nogales, Arizona. This area is a designated food desert, and walking distance to several low-income neighborhoods. Mercado staff also take a mobile pop-up market to senior housing complexes. 2. Why is it important for farmers markets/farm stands/CSA’s to reach community members who are struggling or in-need of access to healthy food? Our efforts to achieve a just and equitable food system will only be successful if we reach the community members who are in the greatest need of fresh, healthy food. When we connect with everyone who needs our services, then everyone benefits, including the individuals, the community, and the growers and entrepreneurs who want to serve us. 3. Does your market assist low-income neighbors, work with vulnerable seniors, donate food to local food banks or accept federal food and nutrition program benefits? Nogales Mercado is proud to accept SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks Arizona, WIC Cash Value Vouchers, and Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program vouchers. We also work with health education programs to offer vouchers for participants. Our purpose is to improve the health of our county by making fresh, local foods accessible to everyone. In order to do that, we work closely with our local WIC office, senior housing locations, community health center, community development organization, and schools. 4. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your market’s efforts to bring healthy food to neighborhoods that need it the most? It isn’t easy to reach the community members who have the least access to fresh, healthy food. People have told us that we should move our market location to other parts of town, but we are committed to supporting the health and vitality of our downtown and staying within walking distance of low-income neighborhoods there. Visit http://ajocsa.com/farmers-market/ and http://www.nogalesmercado.com to learn more about the markets, as well as their upcoming events and activities. Stay tuned to our blog, Facebook page and Twitter as we continue to highlight our incredible markets, growers and efforts in Arizona. Does your favorite market or farmer assist low-income neighbors, work with vulnerable seniors, donate food to local food banks or accept federal food and nutrition program benefits? Nominate them today for the American Farmland Trust’s Farmers Market Celebration!
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