The Moses Lake Farmers Market is held twice a week between May and October. One market is on Saturdays between 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM from May to October, while the second is on Wednesdays between 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM from June to September. In 2015, CSML established a presence at the Saturday Farmers Market every third weekend starting in June and ended in September. The VISTA promoted the program by handing out flyers, sign-up sheets for updates, and displayed posters on hunger and food waste. In addition, the VISTA had a donation jug and asked customers to “help Harvest Against Hunger.” CSML collected nearly $150 dollars.
Supplies Needed
Be sure to have the following supplies on hand when you are promoting a gleaning program at a farmers market:
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Schedule of when the tabling event will occur
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Table
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Chairs
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Tent
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Flyers
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Poster boards for informational purposes
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Donation bucket/jug for money
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Sign-up sheets for updates and gleans
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Snacks (Note: if you use fresh produce, be prepared with a food handler’s card in case of random inspections by state food inspectors)
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A positive attitude
Draw Attention to your Table
When promoting the program it helps to have something interesting to draw people towards the table. Brochures and informational packets help but do not necessarily attract people to the table. Some items that help are poster boards of the activities that CSML has done to alleviate hunger, as well as facts about hunger to help people understand the organization’s mission and the actions that the organization has taken. The VISTA started the season with a poster board highlighting the gleaning program as well as the community garden to show people what CSML has done to collect produce. Toward the end of the farmer’s market season, the VISTA created a poster board highlighting Harvest Against Hunger specifically, as well as statistics on hungry people, food waste, and what can be done. This caught the attention of farmers market customers because there was something visible with important facts.
