By Bill Brady
Farmers markets are sprouting all over the Park Bugle coverage area this summer. Depending on your energy level, you could practically walk to one, nearly every day.
On Tuesday, check out the one at Corpus Christi Church on Fairview and County Road B. On Wednesday there’s the MidCity Farmers Market on Raymond Avenue, featured in this month’s Transition Town column on page 15.
And on Thursdays, there’s the new kid on the block: the Como Park Farmers Market at the corner of Hoyt and Hamline avenues, across from Chelsea Heights Elementary School. You may have noticed the sidewalk signs around the neighborhood drumming up interest since its opening day in mid-May.
“We are so happy that it’s here!” exclaimed Katie Graves as she grabbed a bag of produce from vendor (and Hastings farmer) Ma Lao. Katie, who lives three blocks away, has been to the market almost weekly, partly because of the fresh vegetables and partly because her 3-year-old son, Hugh, “loves the cheese curds.”
Hey, there’s something for everyone. And every “something” is local.
“All products must be grown or produced within 100 miles of St. Paul, which means we are still waiting on some of the vegetable tables,” said Lindsay Stauner of the St. Paul Farmers Market/Growers Association, manager of the fledgling venture. “When we are completely full, we’ll have about 20 vendors.”
The market was the brainchild of Como Park Lutheran Church, on whose parking lot it resides. The congregation has a long history of food ministry outreach, including financial support for the Every Meal program at Chelsea Heights to feed food-insecure students on weekends.
“We’ve been in conversation for the last year to discern what more we could do,” explained Sue Brogger, the church’s coordinator for Kitchen, Hunger Ministries and Events.
“We have this big parking lot at Hamline and Hoyt. It has been used for food drives, and we hosted a block party last year to engage with neighbors. But here was a way to bring in more food resources on a regular basis.”
On one recent week, those resources included home-grown pork, locally roasted Columbian coffee, steamed momos, popcorn and—to extend the market’s bounty beyond its physical boundaries—free organic seeds, courtesy of the Como Community Seed Library.
As with all markets run by the St. Paul Growers Association, the Como Park market has a matching program for folks who receive benefits from SNAP, the U.S. Government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Every $10 from a SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer account turns into $30 to spend at the market.
The Como Park Farmer’s Market is open Thursdays from 2 p.m. till 6 p.m. through Oct. 30.
Bill Brady is the Bugle copy editor.
Photo cutlines:
• Bryan Utecht offers a pork sample to Roseville’s Jan Kahout. His dad, Chris, is one of about 20 regular vendors at the Como Park Farmers Market. Photo by Bill Brady.
• Top photo, Hastings farmer Ma Lao packages up fresh produce for shopper Katie Graves at the Como Park Farmers Market. Photo by Bill Brady.
