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. The first is scheduled for Sunday, June 6.
“We tried holding markets once a month and it just didn’t work. Other downriver communities canceled their seasons altogether,” says Leslie Lynch-Wilson, founder and treasurer for the Friends of Lincoln Park Farmers Market.
“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 has also 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.
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This year’s POP Club will take place online.One of last year’s COVID-inspired pivots will continue for at least this year. The Power of Produce (POP) 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. But this is fresh food grown in Michigan so they might not see some of the same products until July,” Lynch-Wilson says.
“So it’s important to teach kids about where their food comes from at a young age.”
The Lincoln Park Farmers Market opens their season on Sunday, June 6, at the intersection of Fort and Southfield in Lincoln Park.
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