Press Release – Douglass Farmers’ Market Opens June 5th

From a Fair Food Matters press release….

The Douglass Farmers’ Market, located at the Douglass Community Center (1000 W. Paterson Street, Kalamazoo), opens for the season on Tuesday, June 5, from 3-6 p.m., and will continue every Tuesday through August 28.

The market, established in 2011 by Fair Food Matters in partnership with the Douglass Community Association, is designed to increase access to local, healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate produce in the Northside Neighborhood of Kalamazoo; and to create an enjoyable, educational, safe community event that brings people together.

Vendors scheduled to take part in opening day are:

• Blue Stone Farm (Otsego): Chemical- and pesticide-free vegetables and herbs
• Campus Beet Community Garden (Kalamazoo): Garden vegetables, flowers, baked goods, handmade T-shirts and postcards
• Cinfully Cinnamons (Kalamazoo): Cakes, cookies, cobblers, pies and yeast breads
• Growing Matters Garden (Kalamazoo): Green onions, rhubarb, fresh herbs and worm compost for home gardens and potted plants
• Hungry Diva Pantry (Portage and Kalamazoo): Homemade fruit jams using local produce, homemade baked goods
• Iboni Rootz (Kalamazoo): Baked goods, seasonal garden vegetables, plus Afrocentric drawings, handmade rag dolls
• Mz Marilyn (Kalamazoo): Seasonal garden vegetables and herbs, plus cookies and pre-made cookie mix
• Tabitha Farm Urban Homestead & Community Garden (Kalamazoo): Seasonal vegetables and herbs, wild-crafted teas, flowers, baked goods, farm-fresh eggs, hand-crafted items, herbal balms, salves and lotions
• The Rib Cage (Kalamazoo): Pulled pork sandwiches, baby back and spare ribs, grilled chicken breasts, veggie skewers
• Think Farm (Galesburg): Annual and perennial vegetables, herbs and flowers, cultivated and wild-harvested fruits, cultivated mushrooms, plant starters
• Village Fresh Pick (Kalamazoo): Arugula, carrots, chard, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, parsnips, peppers, spinach, turnip roots and greens, plus feathers, flowers and crafts
• Walker’s Fresh Veggies (Paw Paw): Greens, basil, onions, and strawberries.

The Douglass Farmers’ Market will also offer kids’ activities, musical performances, cooking demonstrations and nutritional advice throughout the season. On opening day, kids can get their faces painted (beginning at 4:00), the Michigan Hiryu Daiko will demonstrate the ancient art of Japanese Taiko (“great drum”) at 4:30. The first 50 Bridge Card holders will receive a free vegetable peeler, and a free packet of garden seeds will be available to the first 50 Bridge Card holders and anyone who completes a customer survey.

The Douglass Farmers’ Market accepts Bridge Cards, Double Up Food Bucks, and WIC/Senior Project FRESH coupons. More information is available at http://douglassfarmersmarket.wordpress.com/, or by calling Fair Food Matters at (269) 492-1270.