Tanner Celebrates National Farmers’ Market Week
Monday, August 1, 2016
National Farmers’ Market Week is coming up Aug. 7-13!
In celebration, Tanner Health System’s Get Healthy, Live Well is encouraging the community to visit the farmers’ market and see what fresh, local produce west Georgia has to offer. The Cotton Mill Farmers’ Market in Carrollton is open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday through Oct. 29. Be sure to bring your kids to the farmers’ market this weekend and let them join the Power of Produce (POP) Club.
The POP Club provides an opportunity for children to engage in the local food system through fun learning activities. Kids may sign up and participate on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 9 to 11 a.m. during farmers’ market season. Get Healthy, Live Well teamed up with the Cotton Mill Farmers’ Market and Get Healthy, Live Well volunteer Caron Connelly to launch the POP Club in 2015.
The fun continues during National Farmers’ Market Week when the farmers’ market hosts an ice cream social with handmade gelato from Little Hawaiian Restaurant on Saturday, Aug. 13. Get Healthy, Live Well is also promoting the Farmers’ Market Coalition’s summer campaign, “There’s More to Market!” Farmers’ markets are more than just an outlet for fresh produce and friendly farmers.
Farmers’ markets:
- Preserve America’s rural livelihoods and farmland. Farmers’ markets provide one of the only low-barrier entry points for beginning farmers, allowing them to start small, test the market and grow their businesses.
- Stimulate local economies. Growers selling locally create 13 full-time farm operator jobs per $1 million in revenue earned. Those that do not sell locally create three.
- Increase access to fresh, nutritious food. Several studies have found lower prices for conventional and organic produce at farmers’ markets than at supermarkets.
- Support healthy communities. Four out of five farmers selling at markets discuss farming practices with their customers, and three in five discuss nutrition and how to prepare food.
- Promote sustainability. Three out of four farmers selling at farmers’ markets say they use practices consistent with organic standards.
The Cotton Mill Farmers’ Market, which began in 2002, has approximately 15 craftspeople and farmers selling a wide variety of products, including vegetables, fruits, herbs, 100 percent grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, farm-fresh eggs, handmade soap, honey, jams, jellies, salsas, relishes, breads and pastries. In the most recent season, the market generated viable income for these vendors and brought in hundreds of people for these local producers, a valuable economic boost for the region.
For more information, visit www.cottonmillfarmersmarket.org or www.GetHealthyLiveWell.org.