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Dear readers,
A pop of brown and red hues are emerging here in the east coast reminding us all that there is much to do before the season wraps up. Transitional months are full of delights. We get to savor the bounty of the summer harvest and taste a bit of what makes fall so wonderful as well. With such abundance we are also reminded that access to affordable and local sources of nutritious food is still a problem in many parts of America.
If you follow our social media, you know we’ve been stressing how important September 2022 will be for those working to end food hunger and insecurity because it is truly a hunger action-packed month! We’re excited to convene at the National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (NAFMNP) Annual Conference, hosting our own listening session to the White House Conference on Hunger, keeping our eyes and ears on what the Urban Food Systems Symposium will bring forth, and tabling at the Higher Ground Fair in Wyoming.
Finally, a reminder to all the folx who applied for MarketLink’s SNAP/EBT equipment but haven’t taken the next step to obtain their FNS number - please let us know if you intend on going forward with your application. Otherwise, keep reading to learn more about upcoming events, webinars, resources, opportunities, and food news!
Warmest, The MarketLink Team
| | | | A Day in the Life of a NAFMNP Member | |
To celebrate the return of the NAFMNP annual conference to in-person, we decided to ask NAFMNP members to share with us what their day-to-day looks like working on WIC and S/FMNP efforts in their states. We were curious ourselves! Thank you to Joseph Ryan, Commodities Program Coordinator for the Indiana Department of Health WIC/TEFAP Division, for contributing his piece to this month’s newsletter. Without further delay, we give you a day in the life of Joseph Ryan.
What does your current role with the Indiana Department of Health look like? My current work with WIC and Senior FMNP involves state administrative work for both programs. I help write and edit our State Plans and Manuals, process applications, provide training, field questions and complaints, attend statewide meetings regarding the future of the programs, and much more. I have been in this role for nearly two years, and I consistently find that there is more to learn and always ways to improve the programs.
How did Indiana’s membership with NAFMNP support your position? Indiana has been a member of the NAFMNP for some time, well before I took on this role, and the membership has been extremely important. From the very first day I had access to countless resources, examples, and seasoned veterans of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs from across the country. I was invited to attend meetings, hear comparisons between tried-and-true modes of operation and innovative new ones, and contribute to conversations centered on improving access to farmers’ markets and fresh produce nationwide.
As the best and only organization of its kind, the National Association of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs has proved invaluable on an individual level – my role as Commodities Program Coordinator has been made more accessible and I have been able to make a much greater impact—and on a state level, where we are regularly discussing new and more advanced program models such as eFMNP and will soon host representatives from across the country at the NAFMNP national conference.”
| | | | | | Farm Spotlight: Good Rain Farm | | | | | |
This month’s farm spotlight is on x̌ast sq̓it Farm (Good Rain Farm) located about 45 minutes east of Portland in Gresham. Founded by Michelle Week, Good Rain Farm is a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm that features Indigenous First Foods and Food Stories of Turtle Island. This means besides the usual summer vegetables, their CSA also includes Pacific Northwest First Foods such as rosehips, salmon berries, wood sorrel, currants, camas root, acorns, Oregon stonecrop, and wapato. They also raise heritage breed Champagne d’Argent meat rabbits.
Thank you to Domenika for sharing with us the following testimonial: “We have been using our MarketLink terminal for the past year to make it easier for our local community in the Greater Portland Metro area to access fresh food using their SNAP and EBT based benefits and we love it! It makes a huge impact for small farms like ours to have the ability to directly process payments for benefit holders. Thank you for making this technology available and accessible - this is the real work of reducing barriers to healthy communities in action!”
Thank you for your work to address food insecurity in your community!
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If you want to share your story and testimonial, please send photos and stories to news@marketlink.org or send us an email to schedule an interview. To be featured, please send us the following:
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Pittsburgh Urban Farm Tour Saturday, Sep 17, 2022 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Tour starts at 1 Sound Urban Farm
Attend the Pittsburgh Urban Farm Tour to support their Urban Growers Scholarship Fund if you’re in the area! The tour of 12 urban farms is self-guided and provides “participants the opportunity to get to know our urban farm sites and demonstrates the vital work they do: teaching community members how to grow food, remediating pollution, ensuring access to fresh local food, and converting disinvested areas into productive and safe green spaces.” Tickets are on a sliding scale between $10-$50.
Click here to purchase your tickets. | | | |
GardenShare’s Fight Hunger Fair & 5K Sunday, Sep 18, 2022 at the Village Park in Canton, New York
GardenShare, a Canton-based nonprofit, is participating in Hunger Action Month by hosting a fair and 5K run/walk to celebrate local food systems and promote food security in St. Lawrence County. Sign up to run/walk or donate if you’re unable to participate. Join them at the Village Park for educational games, live music, a story walk, and more!
Click here to learn more. | | | |
Higher Ground Fair September 17-18, 2022 in Laramie, Wyoming
The Higher Ground Fair came to life within the Wyoming nonprofit organizations, Action Resources International and Feeding Laramie Valley. The fair has become a means of celebrating and promoting the values of rural Rocky Mountain living that draw from age-old tradition to create sustainable communities for the future.
We will be tabling at the fair for the first time this year. Come say hi or come with a list of questions for us!
Click here to learn more. | | | |
Urban Food Systems Symposium September 26-28, 2022 in Kansas City, MO
Hosted by Kansas State University, the symposium will bring together a national and international audience of academic and research-oriented professionals to share and gain knowledge on how we can build coalitions to adapt to this changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions.
Click here to learn more. | |
Do you have events you’d like us to share in our newsletter? Send event information to news@marketlink.org. | | | | | | | |
NIFA’s Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program (CFPCGP) “The Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program funds projects designed to meet the needs of low-income individuals and increase community self-reliance concerning food and nutrition. Funding is also designed to meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agricultural needs, including needs relating to equipment, planning for long-term solutions, and/or marketing.
Eligible applicants are public food program service providers, tribal organizations, and private nonprofit entities, including entities that collect or harvest surplus food that is distributed to agencies and nonprofit organizations to feed individuals in need (gleaners). Grant deadline is 10/07/2022.
Click here to apply. | | | |
There's still time to vote for your local farmers market for their chance to win $10,000! The American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition are giving away $10,000 in prizes (and more!) to the nation’s favorite farmers markets. Vote for your farmers market for a chance to win some funding to make it even more awesome! Voting runs through September 19, 2022!
Cast your vote here.
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Resource Alert The Flower Hill Institute (FHI) together with the USDA AMS have put together a planning resource guide to assist meat and poultry farmers in expanding their business. The tool kit includes USDA grants & loans, consultant directory, technical assistance network, marketplace, regulatory, and plant design & construction.
Click here to view their resource guide.
| | | | Meet Debbie Crosby, MarketLink's Regional Representative! | This month’s employee spotlight is on Debbie Crosby. Debbie is a celebrity within the Food and Nutrition Services community and we’re so glad she’s part of our team! Debbie is based in Maine where she has lived most of her life. She grew up with horses and gardening. | | | | After pursuing a degree in education, she decided to join the Army, which led to a 43 year career in government service specifically working for the USDA – Food and Nutrition Service. After she retired, she was excited to be able to continue working with farmers and farmers markets with MarketLink as a Regional Representative. | | | |
Food News Sources on food systems, food access, agriculture, policy, and farmers market that we've been reading, following, and captivated by this month | | | | | | | | | | MarketLink is a program of the National Association of Farmers Markets Nutrition Programs (NAFMNP). ©2022 MarketLink
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