You know spring is in full swing when the farmers’ market opens, which Boulder County’s will do in both its Boulder and Longmont locations this Saturday, April 4.
And this year, along with the local foods you expect at the farmers’ market, both Boulder County markets are bringing new events and new programming to local shoppers.
“A lot of people don’t realize that Boulder County Farmers’ Markets is a nonprofit [organization],” says Katie Lazor, marketing manager for BCFM.
“Our mission as the nonprofit is to support local agriculture, and in doing that there is a huge educational component in helping the community understand the benefits of eating local and building community through buying local foods,” she says. “We really see ourselves as a voice for all our vendors and for local agriculture in general. We work for and support over 150 food vendors in our community, so we have our finger on the pulse of what’s going on in Colorado’s agriculture. That sets us up to offer a lot of that information back to the community. We’re working on really capitalizing that and offering some great new programs.”
Among those new programs will be Saturday events for kids, held at both BCFM locations.
“This is something people have wanted for a long time now,” Lazor says. “We’ve heard from customers and vendors that we really need to offer educational programing and activities for children at the market, so we’re excited to jump into that this season.”
Lazor says BCFM will join with “community partners” to develop new programs every week. For example, at the first Saturday market this season, kids will get the chance to take part in an Easter egg hunt throughout the market, which Lazor says will give kids a fun way to explore the market with their guardians. Both markets will host hunts.
Later on in the season, Lazor adds, the BCFM also anticipates having farm animals and scavenger hunts that teach children about local farms, different vegetables, facts about the Boulder County markets and other agriculture topics.
And BCFM didn’t forget about the adults at the market: the organization is implementing a chef demo program every Saturday morning during peak season. In a designated booth in a central local in each market, a chef from a local restaurant will teach community members how to use specific seasonal produce.
Leading the BCFM in all of these changes is Mark Guttridge, owner of Ollin Farms in Longmont. This is Guttridge’s third season on the board of directors for the nonprofit Boulder County Farmers’ Market, and his second year as board president.
“I kind of got on the board because I thought I needed to see a little bit of change in the market,” Guttridge says. “About five years ago there was a huge increase in interest in local food — a lot more grocery stores carrying local food, a lot more CSAs, a lot more farm stands — and we kind of realized farmers needed to take more of a nonprofit role and focus on education and outreach and try to build the awareness around local food.”
Guttridge says he’s very excited about a particular new program at the BCFM, the seasonal food festivals.
Throughout the season, BCFM will host six of these seasonal festivals to highlight a particular type of produce. The first food festival on May 31 at the Longmont market will focus on radishes.
“I think that’s one of the real strengths of the market; you go to the farmers’ market in May and there’s — as opposed to the one or two in the grocery store — there’s 10 or 15 varieties of radish,” Guttridge says. “I think people love trying varieties. We should be able to celebrate food and that’s what we’re doing.”
Other festivals will focus on kale, tomatoes, peppers, stone fruits (such as peaches and plums) and carrots.
Guttridge, who is an engineer by education, got into farming by growing fresh produce for his family, particularly so his children could have the experience of eating something that was grown at their home. He says that having a connection to the land we live on, and in turn a connection to the community we live in, is a lost concept in the U.S.
“One of the most exciting things for me at the farmers’ market is kind of taking that role of providing a culture to a place and providing something that makes the place unique and bringing people together,” he says. “I think we kind of lost that in America — that community orientation. And to me, local food is stepping up to fill that void and kind of re-establish people around a city and around the soil and around a group of farms and the food system that’s going to support them. I think that’s what attracts people to the farmers’ market is that connection to the place we’re at. … I think farmers’ markets and local food in general are really leading the way in terms of reuniting people with community and culture and the land around them.”
