Power of Produce Club Returns!

Power of Produce Club Returns!

Our popular Power of Produce Club, teaching kids ages 5 and up about growing and eating healthy food, returns tomorrow for the summer season!  Kids participate in fun activities and earn tokens that can be used to purchase fruits, vegetable and food-producing plants.

This program serves several hundred children at each market.  We’re grateful to the Panhandle Health District for providing staffing and funding to bring the program back this season.

Fresh This Week: Lettuce, Spinach, Beets, Swiss Chard, Rhubarb, Green Onions, Broccoli, Bok Choi, Salad Turnips, Cabbage, Kale, Onions, Radishes, Fresh Flowers

On Stage:

Saturday: Bill Bozly

Wednesday: Ed Graves

Also this week: Face painting and cooking demonstrations with the University of Idaho!

The Beauty of Farmers’ Markets

by Julie McKerracher

“What makes the farmers market such a special place is that you’re actually creating community around food.”

– Bryant Terry

Spring is here and our Farmers Markets have begun! If you’re looking for new ways to shop, support your community and find the best food available, look no further than locally grown, farm-raised food. Here are just a few reasons to head over to a Farmers Market on a Friday afternoon in Athol, or Saturday morning in Hayden.

Cook with the best ingredients

There are a lot of factors that go into choosing where to shop and the most important one is the quality of the food. At Farmers Markets you’ll find three awesome things to improve your shopping experience: a wider variety of produce, healthier food raised fresh and free of hormones and pesticides, and richer tasting ingredients! You’ll go to pick up some lettuce and apples and come home with watermelon radishes and quail eggs. It’s a great place to try new things and discover new flavors you’ll love.

Engage with your community

Another reason we love being at a Farmers Market is the opportunity to get to know the people in your community. Talk to the farmers about how they raise their products, make friends with fellow shoppers, discuss recipes to use the new ingredients you pick up. It’s a far more social way to shop and to stay connected with your community.  Also Farmers Markets always make shopping fun for kids so you don’t have to drag bored children through supermarket aisles!

Support humane treatment of animals

When you have the opportunity to discuss where your food is coming from, how it was raised and farmed, you get to make sure that what you are getting is the real thing. The difference between mass-produced, highly-processed food and local farm-grown food is not just something you taste. It’s something you enjoy for what it stands for. Ethically raised animals and sustainably raised produce lets you shop and cook with peace of mind, knowing that you’re providing the very best for yourself and your family!

–Kerry and Julie McKerracher’s farm is located halfway between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.  Their desire is to provide their neighbors with the healthiest, most delicious food, grown in fabulous earthworm-friendly soil, using organic and regenerative methods.  Due to this the robust, vigorous chicken provide the highest level of nutrition with unparalleled flavor.  The fruit and vegetable are fresh with no chemicals and delicious.