The Lincoln Park Farmers Market 2021 season begins Sunday, June 6.
By M.J. GALBRAITH
Metromode Media
Last year wasn’t the best of years for the Lincoln Park Farmers Market.
Like many an organization, the market felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Difficulties in funding, finding volunteers, and other hurdles forced the market to only hold three farmers markets, one in August, one in September, and one in October.
With more time to prepare this year, the Lincoln Park Farmers Market is back to hosting farmers markets on a weekly basis at the intersection of Fort Street and Southfield Road. The first is scheduled for June 6.
“We tried holding markets once a month and it just didn’t work,” says Leslie Lynch-Wilson, founder and treasurer for the Friends of Lincoln Park Farmers Market. “Other Downriver communities canceled their seasons altogether. Early this year we said that we really have to do it weekly.”
With more time to prepare, the market has been able to find more volunteers and secure additional funding from the Lincoln Park DDA and community partners.
Lynch-Wilson says that there also has been a welcome increase in the amount of vendor applications received this year.
“We’re seeing more people and more new people wanting to be vendors this year. I think with the pandemic, people are getting interested in growing their own food and starting new businesses,” she says.
One of last year’s COVID-inspired pivots will continue for at least this year. The Power of Produce Club will be held online via the Zoom app this season, in an effort to allow for safely social distancing.
The POP Club teaches children between the ages of 5 and 12 about where food comes from, healthy eating choices, and more. Participating children receive $2 POP Club Bucks each week to spend at the market.
Registration is currently open online.
“Even when adults come to the market, they’re used to going to grocery stores and they think they’ll see the same produce at the farmers market,” Lynch-Wilson says. “But this is fresh food grown in Michigan so they might not see some of the same products until July.
“So it’s important to teach kids about where their food comes from at a young age.”
(This story was reprinted from Metromode Media. It also is available here.)