guidelines. And both have educational and not-for-profit opportunities for participation. Vendors can sign up for a season or by week.
The Bean Blossom Market was initially started by St. David’ s Episcopal Church’ s Outreach Committee but is now a separate committee with active vendor participation on the board.
The Bean Blossom market will again feature the popular St. David’ s food booth, aka St. David’ s Bistro.“ This year, it will be inside to make a better experience for our guests, people are also welcome to dine in the outdoor sitting area. There will be a fresh menu each week featuring foods from our vendors. And as always, we’ ll have our Children’ s Day with a bounce house( June 1), and the Strawberry Festival( June 8), and Rummage Sale in August.”
The inclusion of children in all phases of the market is unquestionably part of the magic. Torrie Rae notes,“ Our market meetings are held at the library with our kids buzzing around. They are incorporated in our decision making. We want the markets to be a place where they can both be themselves and celebrate our community.”
Cori notes that St. David’ s has a children’ s garden and a playground, with birdhouses, and planting space for fruits, vegetables, and herbs.“ At
Torrie Rae speaks of both markets.” We’ re both part of a larger vision of a local food initiative. And we really hope the larger community will help us create an environment that we all love— a vital place for everyone. We see the market as a place for all of us together, where we have a market that reflects our future. It’ s a thread to our tapestry. The goal is to support both producers and consumers.” •
Connect with Bean Blossom Farmers’ Market on facebook and Instagram or < www. BeanBlossomFarmersMarket. com >. Reach Nashville Indiana Farmer’ s Market on facebook or address inquiries to < nashvillefarmersmarket @ gmail. com >. the beginning of the season we plant a garden with the children. We have kids’ activities every Friday: fun, educational ways to get kids excited about growing food. We always have crafts and almost every week a special program. Harvesting is the exciting time, when they get to pick beans, strawberries, and herbs. Last year, we grew catnip, and the kids made cat toys with catnip in them.”
Jim Schultz, a“ retired” business man who is involved in many aspects of community including historic preservation and local economic development, sums it up this way: A farmers’ market contributes to,“ local jobs, local economy, employed citizens, a healthier population, and economic growth. If you value a person’ s food cost at $ 10 per day, with a population of 15,000 people, your annual value to the local economy is $ 55 million. How much of that can we produce locally? If this was an economic play for a company to relocate here, how much would we incentivize for a revenue stream of $ 5 million a year? $ 10 million? Then add the health benefits and you have a winner.”
May / June 2018 • Our Brown County 53