Community Garden Revitalized at Frenchtown Farmers Market
Photo by Tiffany Torres/FNP
Customers at Frenchtown Farmers Market in Tallahassee, Fla., participated in a unique garden and nutrition education workshop in October 2017. The UF/IFAS Extension Family Nutrition Program (FNP) hosted the event for SNAP (formerly Food Stamps)-eligible participants at the market.
The day began with a cooking demonstration on how to create a delicious and healthy meal on a budget using simple, seasonal ingredients from the garden such as kale and collards. Local vendors sold seedlings they had started so participants could stretch their benefits further by growing these ingredients at home. FNP also provided promotional materials to highlight the vendors who sell plant starts and accept EBT-SNAP benefits.
Lauren Chappell, Frenchtown Farmers Market manager, said:
“Frenchtown Heritage Hub’s partnership with the Family Nutrition Program has been invaluable in inspiring our community to eat healthy, fresh food. Your assistance has helped the community garden to flourish. It often provides the ingredients for our cooking demos, which is the most effective way to capture the imagination of our customers, showing them that they too can make simple, delicious recipes from food they’ve grown!”
More than 100 participants gained first-hand experience in revitalizing and planting the fall community garden, located on the premises, for which FNP provides ongoing support. In addition to seasonal gardening workshops, FNP teaches monthly nutrition education at the market.
