Latest / Community D.C. / Community DC Cat Oakar FreshFarm Final for 5.24.26

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Community DC Cat Oakar FreshFarm Final for 5.24.26 · Community D.C.

0:02
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
0:05
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome to
0:08
Speaker 1: the program for the first time, Kat Okar. She is
0:10
Speaker 1: the executive director for Fresh Farm, a mid Atlantic nonprofit
0:14
Speaker 1: that builds a more equitable sustainable food system by operating
0:17
Speaker 1: producer only farmers' markets, distributing food to underserved communities, and
0:22
Speaker 1: offering hands on school education. We'll talk about all the
0:25
Speaker 1: DMV farmers' markets, how they get executed every weekend, and
0:28
Speaker 1: we'll dig into the local scene for everything and anything
0:32
Speaker 1: that you've ever wanted to know about healthy food distribution
0:34
Speaker 1: throughout the DMV. Here's my conversation with Kat. I hope
0:37
Speaker 1: you enjoyed it as much as I did.
0:38
Speaker 2: Good morning, Kat, Good morning, Hi Dennis. How are you.
0:42
Speaker 3: I'm great?
0:42
Speaker 2: How are you doing well?
0:43
Speaker 1: I'm great that you're on the show. I mean, Community
0:45
Speaker 1: d C has been looking for some new Fresh Farm talent,
0:49
Speaker 1: and we've got it with you as executive director. My
0:52
Speaker 1: little intro that I did just a few seconds ago
0:53
Speaker 1: does not do justice Fresh Farm. And it's always nice
0:56
Speaker 1: to talk to new nonprofits that are in the DMV
0:58
Speaker 1: that they are doing incredible things and like a lot
1:00
Speaker 1: of other Washington DC or DMV residents like myself and
1:03
Speaker 1: my wife, I like to go to the market, specifically
1:06
Speaker 1: the DuPont One, which is one of the big ones,
1:08
Speaker 1: the fun ones. I know you work with a lot
1:10
Speaker 1: of them that we're going to talk about, but I
1:11
Speaker 1: do want to give context to fresh Form. It's been
1:15
Speaker 1: around for a while. I know you're new to fresh Farm,
1:17
Speaker 1: but there's a long history which is really cool. Can
1:19
Speaker 1: you kind of give us the origin story of everything
1:21
Speaker 1: when it comes to fresh Form?
1:22
Speaker 2: Sure?
1:23
Speaker 3: Well, thank you so much, Dennis again for having me
1:26
Speaker 3: and for all you do is spotlight local organizations in
1:29
Speaker 3: the district. You are just a legacy and just so
1:32
Speaker 3: appreciate all that you do for the folks in the DMV.
1:35
Speaker 3: But to start us off, so Fresh Farm was actually
1:38
Speaker 3: founded in nineteen ninety seven, So we're just about to
1:41
Speaker 3: celebrate our thirtieth anniversary.
1:42
Speaker 1: Congratulations, huge, thank.
1:44
Speaker 2: You, We're so excited, Thank you, thank you. So it
1:47
Speaker 2: was started by our.
1:48
Speaker 3: Two amazing co founders, and Yonkers and Bernie Prince, who
1:52
Speaker 3: opened the DuPont Farmers Market DuPont Circle Farmer's Market with
1:56
Speaker 3: just fifteen farmers from four states, incredible fruit and vegetables
2:01
Speaker 3: and flowers and plants, and they had to, you know,
2:05
Speaker 3: really work hard to get a farmer's market into the district.
2:09
Speaker 3: It was not an easy road by any means, and
2:12
Speaker 3: I think there was definitely some pushback. People didn't understand
2:15
Speaker 3: the concept or why, you know, we wanted to they
2:18
Speaker 3: wanted to bring farmers into the city, and so it
2:22
Speaker 3: really grew from there. So it started as one farmer's market,
2:25
Speaker 3: and now we have twenty five farmers markets and farm
2:28
Speaker 3: stands across the DMV. You know, we have a couple
2:31
Speaker 3: in Arlington and Maryland and most in the district. But
2:36
Speaker 3: then we also have a number of food access programs.
2:39
Speaker 3: We have a food hub, and we run food Prints,
2:42
Speaker 3: which is in twenty one DC public schools and serves
2:45
Speaker 3: eight thousand students, all focused on food and gardening and
2:48
Speaker 3: cooking education.
2:49
Speaker 1: Well, that's absolutely huge, and we're going to talk about
2:51
Speaker 1: those things and a lot more. But let's also do this.
2:54
Speaker 1: If we were to give kind of a thirty thousand
2:56
Speaker 1: foot view to our listeners about what Fresh Farm does,
2:59
Speaker 1: what you would exactly do, What would you tell them?
3:01
Speaker 3: Well, I think most people know us from our farmers markets,
3:04
Speaker 3: as as you mentioned, most people know us from DuPont,
3:08
Speaker 3: but we do so much more than that, So I
3:10
Speaker 3: would say, you know, we really sit at the intersection
3:12
Speaker 3: of agriculture and food access and education and public health
3:17
Speaker 3: and community well being, community resilience, community spaces. You know,
3:23
Speaker 3: we support you know, we were founded with the core
3:28
Speaker 3: mission of supporting local farmers, so that is really at
3:30
Speaker 3: the crux of what we do and food producers, but
3:34
Speaker 3: we also help families access fresh, healthy, local food. We
3:38
Speaker 3: bring food education into schools, and you know, we really
3:42
Speaker 3: work to strengthen systems that make regional food economies more
3:46
Speaker 3: sustainable over time. We're all about building a more sustainable, resilient,
3:51
Speaker 3: and equitable food system that works for everybody here in
3:54
Speaker 3: the DMV.
3:55
Speaker 1: You know, for two, it is to me there's been
3:57
Speaker 1: a lot of food on Community DC lately. I got
3:59
Speaker 1: to opportunity to talk to the Capital Area Food Bank, Yeah,
4:04
Speaker 1: and Aruda, who's just great and she's been doing a
4:06
Speaker 1: wonderful job there. And what they do and what you do,
4:09
Speaker 1: it really is extraordinary. You know, I've lived in a
4:11
Speaker 1: lot of different cities because of what I do and
4:14
Speaker 1: what you do and what all these markets do are
4:17
Speaker 1: popping up all over the last couple of decades, and
4:20
Speaker 1: it really is extraordinary. Is I take a look at
4:22
Speaker 1: your website and the growth of all the markets you
4:24
Speaker 1: work for, it truly is. I'd like to talk about
4:27
Speaker 1: vendors for a second, because I mean your lifeblood, you know,
4:30
Speaker 1: of all the markets and it's huge. And I don't
4:34
Speaker 1: think people realize because I've seen a set up once before,
4:36
Speaker 1: about what it takes for somebody wherever they're coming from
4:39
Speaker 1: in the DMV to set themselves up very early and
4:42
Speaker 1: to get everything ready and then hopefully the weather's beautiful
4:44
Speaker 1: and there's a nice crowd and then get people excited
4:47
Speaker 1: about whether we're offering. And if you haven't been one
4:49
Speaker 1: of these markets since, specifically because of my experience with DuPont,
4:52
Speaker 1: it's extraordinary. The fresh food, the healthy food that you
4:55
Speaker 1: can get, which is really in some really great antonadus too,
4:58
Speaker 1: which I love. But these vendors are truly incredible. How
5:03
Speaker 1: do they get connected to these markets? Though I know,
5:06
Speaker 1: you know, a vendor says why I want to be
5:07
Speaker 1: a part of this, How do they do that?
5:09
Speaker 3: So you know, some of our vendors have been with
5:12
Speaker 3: us from the very beginning, you know, we have a
5:14
Speaker 3: handful who have been here since the nineties, which is
5:17
Speaker 3: really extraordinary. They've been at DuPont since the nineties. So
5:21
Speaker 3: those are you know, some of our farmers and producers.
5:23
Speaker 3: But then others, you know, we'll reach out and you know,
5:26
Speaker 3: go through We have a full application process where farmers
5:29
Speaker 3: and producers can indicate, you know, which markets they want
5:32
Speaker 3: to be at, and you know, that's you know, one
5:34
Speaker 3: of the things that we do.
5:35
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people.
5:36
Speaker 3: Don't realize how much goes into making a farmer's market function,
5:41
Speaker 3: but there's so much. And that part of that is
5:43
Speaker 3: making sure there's the right balance of farmers and producers
5:46
Speaker 3: that come to market. So we don't have all produced
5:48
Speaker 3: at DuPont because you know, at DuPont you can and
5:52
Speaker 3: most of our markets you can really do one stop
5:53
Speaker 3: to grocery shopping. So we have produce, we have meats,
5:56
Speaker 3: we have eggs, dairy flowers, that is, as you said,
6:02
Speaker 3: a lot of prepared foods, coffee, dog treats, you know,
6:06
Speaker 3: speirits beer, the whole thing. So you know, we have
6:09
Speaker 3: that part of our job is making sure there's that
6:12
Speaker 3: the correct balance, and you know that our vendors are
6:16
Speaker 3: going to be good partners. You know, we very much
6:18
Speaker 3: see ourselves as co partners in this work, and so
6:22
Speaker 3: we do a lot to work closely with those farmers
6:25
Speaker 3: and producers. The other thing that one of the biggest
6:28
Speaker 3: requirements is that they have to be local, So they
6:30
Speaker 3: have to be within two hundred miles of the DMV
6:33
Speaker 3: in order to be part of Fresh Farm. And that
6:36
Speaker 3: means that anything that you buy at fresh Farm is
6:40
Speaker 3: going to be grown or made by the person or
6:43
Speaker 3: you know, entity that's selling it. So that's you know,
6:45
Speaker 3: obviously one of the core pieces too.
6:47
Speaker 1: Well, very cool. There's something I'd like you to expound on,
6:49
Speaker 1: and this also is in the website on the homepage.
6:51
Speaker 1: Fresh Farm builds a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient food
6:55
Speaker 1: system in the Mid Atlantic region. Tell me what that means.
6:58
Speaker 3: That's such a great question, and that was something I
6:59
Speaker 3: was to bring up, actually because I think it can
7:01
Speaker 3: be such a nebulous thing for people, and you know,
7:05
Speaker 3: it's something that we talk about a lot, but I
7:07
Speaker 3: think it means a lot of things. One, it means
7:10
Speaker 3: supporting local farmers and producers making sure that they have
7:14
Speaker 3: a sustainable revenue source so that they can continue to
7:17
Speaker 3: stay in business and provide fresh, local produce and other
7:21
Speaker 3: items to you and your family.
7:23
Speaker 2: It also means ensuring that.
7:25
Speaker 3: People have access to the food, meaning it's affordable, meaning
7:30
Speaker 3: they can purchase it in an area that's convenient for them,
7:35
Speaker 3: and that they have enough money to do so.
7:37
Speaker 2: But then it's also.
7:38
Speaker 3: About educating kids and families about where their food comes from,
7:43
Speaker 3: how to cook it, what it means to you know,
7:46
Speaker 3: have a meal together. And so that's you know, really
7:49
Speaker 3: what we what we can why we consider ourselves, you know,
7:53
Speaker 3: such a trusted and national authority on this because we
7:56
Speaker 3: tackle it from all of those angles.
7:58
Speaker 2: The other thing I'll just say about.
8:01
Speaker 3: Is I think that you know, when you think about
8:03
Speaker 3: the food system, I think people often don't realize that
8:06
Speaker 3: they play a role in it. But you know, where
8:08
Speaker 3: you spend your dollars matter. You know, spending your hard
8:12
Speaker 3: earned dollars at a farmer's market means you are participating
8:16
Speaker 3: and sustaining your local food system and making sure it
8:18
Speaker 3: is resilient and equitable. So not only are you supporting
8:22
Speaker 3: local businesses and local farmers and local producers, you're keeping
8:26
Speaker 3: that money in your local economy. But you're also helping
8:30
Speaker 3: all of the efforts that we do to make food
8:32
Speaker 3: more accessible to your neighbors. You know, people who are
8:35
Speaker 3: walking down the street that you might not even realize
8:37
Speaker 3: rely on things like Snap and Wick and a number
8:40
Speaker 3: of food access programs that we have. So that's kind
8:44
Speaker 3: of you know, really we want folks to take away
8:46
Speaker 3: that they're part of the food system too, they're not
8:49
Speaker 3: just you know, passive recipients of it.
8:50
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm glad you brought that up, Kat, because
8:53
Speaker 1: I think the one thing that when you go and
8:55
Speaker 1: once again I'm using the Duplant Farmers Market because that's
8:57
Speaker 1: the one I mostly go to with my wife, that's
8:59
Speaker 1: a lot of fun and great for people watching too,
9:02
Speaker 1: and you've got to be a social creature. There's a
9:03
Speaker 1: lot of people there when it's a nice, nice morning
9:05
Speaker 1: or a nice day. But the other thing too, that
9:07
Speaker 1: I really enjoy that it's kind of a byproduct of
9:10
Speaker 1: being there and eating and enjoying all the wonderful things
9:13
Speaker 1: that you talked about and more, is that you are
9:16
Speaker 1: supporting local businesses. And these are people that are not
9:18
Speaker 1: making handover fist and money, folks, They're just getting by
9:21
Speaker 1: and having a small business and trying to sell some
9:23
Speaker 1: really healthy or cool stuff to you. And I really
9:25
Speaker 1: do like that part of it, that money is being
9:27
Speaker 1: injected back into the DMV. It really is a sustainable
9:31
Speaker 1: way to survive there that they have these markets, because
9:35
Speaker 1: usually these markets need a farmer's market to be sustainable,
9:38
Speaker 1: don't they.
9:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I you know, I think you make a
9:40
Speaker 2: really great point.
9:41
Speaker 3: The farm version producers at our markets, as we've talked about,
9:45
Speaker 3: are all local businesses, but their margins are so thin,
9:49
Speaker 3: and so you know, putting your dollars to those entities
9:53
Speaker 3: versus other places is meaningful. It makes a difference to them.
9:57
Speaker 3: You know, they have to weather the storms of climate
10:00
Speaker 3: change of you know, brutal winters that we just had
10:04
Speaker 3: as well, and you know that impacts their bottom line
10:06
Speaker 3: as too. They're also you know, farming and producing food
10:11
Speaker 3: is not easy labor, and so they are you know,
10:14
Speaker 3: some of the hardest working individuals and families who are
10:17
Speaker 3: working to sell this amazing fresh local produce or local
10:23
Speaker 3: meat or you know whatever they're they're selling to put
10:27
Speaker 3: on people's tables. And and I think that that is
10:31
Speaker 3: often you know, that's one of the beauties of farmers markets.
10:33
Speaker 3: Is you get to often meet those people who are
10:35
Speaker 3: actually growing your.
10:36
Speaker 1: Food, right, It's pretty cool. And Ken, I know you're
10:39
Speaker 1: pretty new to the role in fresh farm but I
10:41
Speaker 1: think you probably have taken the temperature out there, you know,
10:43
Speaker 1: in this last year, I mean, we've had government shutdowns.
10:46
Speaker 1: It's hard to run any kind of restaurant or a
10:48
Speaker 1: business out there. As you check in with all the
10:52
Speaker 1: markets and all the vendors and all the people that
10:54
Speaker 1: attend them, you know, how are things going right now?
10:57
Speaker 1: Are things flourishing or is it tough out there? Because
10:59
Speaker 1: econ means rough, what's going on out there just in general.
11:02
Speaker 3: Terms, Yeah, I mean I think it's definitely it's been
11:05
Speaker 3: a tough, tough couple of months, I think for for
11:08
Speaker 3: d C especially, you know, on multiple levels. You know,
11:11
Speaker 3: we've seen uh, you know, since I started, it's been
11:15
Speaker 3: it's been a whirlwind, I will say, you know, everything
11:18
Speaker 3: from you know we've seen increased you know, federal agent
11:20
Speaker 3: presence and ice to the government shut down to you
11:24
Speaker 3: know a really brutal winter to job loss, so you know,
11:28
Speaker 3: and at moments it feels very heavy. But I do
11:32
Speaker 3: think you know, our our farmers markets provide that amazing
11:36
Speaker 3: source of community that I think people really want and
11:39
Speaker 3: need at the moment. But you know, as we talk
11:41
Speaker 3: to and as we see with sales, you know, sales
11:44
Speaker 3: definitely took a hit during during the winter time.
11:46
Speaker 2: We rarely rarely close our markets.
11:49
Speaker 3: And you know, with the snow and the ice, you know,
11:53
Speaker 3: we did have to close a couple of days and
11:54
Speaker 3: that has an impact on farmers in a very real
11:56
Speaker 3: way and us as well as a nonprofit organization. So
12:00
Speaker 3: it has been you know, a tough uh a couple
12:04
Speaker 3: of months.
12:04
Speaker 2: But you know, I think that not only do we.
12:07
Speaker 3: See ourselves as part of making DC resilient and stronger,
12:12
Speaker 3: and but I think we remain optimistic about the future ahead.
12:17
Speaker 3: You know, we have no choice but to keep going,
12:20
Speaker 3: especially because you know, what we do matters, and and
12:23
Speaker 3: we're you know, committed to making sure that you know,
12:26
Speaker 3: these local farmers and producers remain in business and that
12:29
Speaker 3: people have access to fresh, local food. And so you know,
12:33
Speaker 3: despite a tough you know, past several months, you know,
12:36
Speaker 3: we keep pressing on and really you know, want to
12:39
Speaker 3: create these amazing community spaces for for folks in the
12:42
Speaker 3: district as well.
12:43
Speaker 1: I think I could speak for everybody that knowing what
12:45
Speaker 1: the term snow crete means. Now, I'm not a fan.
12:49
Speaker 2: I am not a fan either.
12:52
Speaker 1: Resident trying to navigate for several weeks and wow, it
12:55
Speaker 1: was just something else. So that seemed like a giant
12:57
Speaker 1: nightmare and it was a long cold winter. We're almost
13:00
Speaker 1: at the halfway point, and I did want to talk
13:02
Speaker 1: about funding because I know that's real big and there
13:05
Speaker 1: are many ways to donate. When you go to the
13:07
Speaker 1: website that KA I can give now, and we'll give
13:08
Speaker 1: also at the end of the interview. And I'm sure
13:11
Speaker 1: a lot of our smart listeners have already found you.
13:13
Speaker 1: But with that said, there are ways to donate. You
13:15
Speaker 1: also have many ways to give. You know, you can
13:18
Speaker 1: do it one time donation, there's monthly giving and matching
13:21
Speaker 1: gifts and lots of FAQs. When it comes to donations,
13:26
Speaker 1: can you tell our listeners about how they can be
13:28
Speaker 1: a part of Fresh Farm.
13:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, donations matter. You know, even
13:33
Speaker 3: the smallest donation makes a difference. We are as I
13:37
Speaker 3: know a number of you know, nonprofit organizations across the country,
13:40
Speaker 3: you know, really fielding and feeling some really significant funding cuts,
13:46
Speaker 3: you know, especially from the government.
13:47
Speaker 2: Federal government.
13:48
Speaker 3: You know, we're looking at, you know, over five hundred
13:52
Speaker 3: thousand dollars in federal funding that you know we likely
13:54
Speaker 3: won't be getting in the coming year. And then that
13:58
Speaker 3: has trickle effects in terms of you know, local funding
14:01
Speaker 3: as well with DC and Maryland and Virginia. So you know,
14:04
Speaker 3: we are definitely facing some fund some funding shortfalls and
14:07
Speaker 3: are going to have to raise that money from individual
14:09
Speaker 3: donors and pullanthropy. And so that's why, you know, again,
14:13
Speaker 3: really appreciate you bringing up the funding issue because it matters.
14:17
Speaker 3: And I think often when you're you know, kind of
14:20
Speaker 3: outside of you know, a nonprofit organization, you don't realize,
14:23
Speaker 3: you know, how much nonprofits live and die by donations.
14:27
Speaker 3: And I will say now that I am as an
14:29
Speaker 3: executive director, becoming a monthly donor as a game changer,
14:33
Speaker 3: no matter how much you're donating, because it allows us
14:36
Speaker 3: to forecast how much we're going to have in a
14:38
Speaker 3: better way than a one time donation. So if you're
14:40
Speaker 3: thinking about donating, I would encourage you go to freshfarm
14:43
Speaker 3: dot org. Think about donating even a small amount, but
14:47
Speaker 3: really think about becoming a monthly donor, and it helps
14:50
Speaker 3: us plan for the future ahead.
14:52
Speaker 1: Uh.
14:52
Speaker 3: You know, we have a number of events as well
14:55
Speaker 3: throughout the year. But you know, donating it to be
14:58
Speaker 3: a Freshfarm dot org is is the best way scar
15:01
Speaker 3: and the other thing you know, we also offered we
15:04
Speaker 3: also tell people too, is and I don't think people
15:06
Speaker 3: will often realize this, that there's a lot of employers
15:08
Speaker 3: will match your donations and so you know, we are
15:13
Speaker 3: always looking for, you know.
15:15
Speaker 2: To to educate people about that.
15:16
Speaker 3: You know, some employers are really extraordinary and we'll match
15:19
Speaker 3: up to several thousand dollars and so, you know, I
15:22
Speaker 3: just encourage folks to think about that, you know, if
15:25
Speaker 3: they don't know where to give, you know, Fresh Farm,
15:28
Speaker 3: you know is providing you know, really great community spaces
15:30
Speaker 3: for folks and you probably don't even realize it you've been,
15:33
Speaker 3: you know at one of our farmers markets or farm stands,
15:35
Speaker 3: or you might have a kid who has gone through
15:37
Speaker 3: our food Prints program and those are that those programs
15:41
Speaker 3: are partially sustained by donations from people like you.
15:44
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad that you mentioned that because I do
15:46
Speaker 1: mention in our series anytime there is an opportunity of small,
15:49
Speaker 1: medium or large businesses to reach out to nonprofits and
15:52
Speaker 1: great ones like you and Fresh Farm, you're welcoming that too,
15:55
Speaker 1: and can they directly reach out to you? But if
15:58
Speaker 1: there's a business that's listening either on the web or
16:01
Speaker 1: podcast network or on the Sunday morning, Uh, what's the
16:04
Speaker 1: best way to say that they'd like to get involved
16:05
Speaker 1: with you in Fresh Farm?
16:06
Speaker 3: Sure? I mean donations always welcome partnerships too. You know,
16:10
Speaker 3: we we partner with so many organizations, you know, nonprofit
16:13
Speaker 3: and for profit organizations. You know a number of local
16:17
Speaker 3: for profit businesses. You know, we'll buy from our food
16:20
Speaker 3: hub and so our food hub provides is our wholesale arm.
16:24
Speaker 3: So we're offering wholesale prices from local farmers to nonprofit
16:28
Speaker 3: organizations that provide social services, but also to some local
16:32
Speaker 3: restaurants such as serf Side and Millies they buy from us.
16:36
Speaker 3: So if you're you know a local restaurant or you
16:39
Speaker 3: know a local business who offers food uh to your employees,
16:42
Speaker 3: you know, feel free to reach out if you want
16:45
Speaker 3: to offer you know, a weekly subscription to Fresh Local
16:48
Speaker 3: Produce uh, you know, for your employees or your staff
16:51
Speaker 3: or your friends and family. We also offer a market
16:54
Speaker 3: share program and so you know, we can deliver to
16:57
Speaker 3: you or you can pick up from one of our
17:00
Speaker 3: locations here in the district. But we also, you know, partner,
17:03
Speaker 3: you know, we do a number of projects here in
17:05
Speaker 3: the district with local hospitals as well to you know,
17:09
Speaker 3: try to bring fresh, local produce to patients who are
17:12
Speaker 3: facing food and security or chronic disease.
17:15
Speaker 1: I love that, all right. My next line of question
17:17
Speaker 1: is going to seem like a game show and a
17:19
Speaker 1: speed round, but there's a lot of buckets when it
17:21
Speaker 1: comes to food access. So I'm on the web looking
17:24
Speaker 1: at it, and I researched this earlier. It really is
17:26
Speaker 1: extraordinary things you guys do and your team. So you've
17:30
Speaker 1: got the Fresh Match, you've got the produce, plus you've
17:33
Speaker 1: got the Virginia Senior and also the DC Senior tabs
17:37
Speaker 1: and then free summer meals and food recovery. Can you
17:40
Speaker 1: just spend about a minute on each one to tell
17:42
Speaker 1: us what they're just to give us a little context,
17:43
Speaker 1: because they're really all very interesting.
17:45
Speaker 3: They really are, and they're so impactful and the reach
17:48
Speaker 3: is really quite extraordinary. So I'll start with Fresh Match.
17:52
Speaker 3: So Fresh Matches really are what we call our incentive program.
17:56
Speaker 3: So we provide a dollar for dollar match on all
17:59
Speaker 3: federal benefits that are spent at market. So if you
18:01
Speaker 3: come in with thirty dollars and SNAP benefits, we'll match
18:04
Speaker 3: that and give you thirty dollars in coupons to spend
18:07
Speaker 3: it at the farmer's market. That means, you know, we're
18:10
Speaker 3: really just trying to give you more money to spend there,
18:12
Speaker 3: so you have, you know, your spending power is basically doubled,
18:16
Speaker 3: and you're able to get you know, more fresh legal
18:18
Speaker 3: produce to put on the table.
18:20
Speaker 2: So then we also do a.
18:21
Speaker 3: Program called Virginia Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. It can
18:26
Speaker 3: be a bit of a mouthful or farm market fresh
18:29
Speaker 3: and we do that in right now in Fairfax County.
18:34
Speaker 3: And so really this is providing essentially like a one
18:37
Speaker 3: time benefit of fifty dollars in checks to those who
18:41
Speaker 3: are eligible. It's typically lower income seniors, to help them
18:45
Speaker 3: again purchase fresh foots and vegetables at Virginia Farmers' markets.
18:50
Speaker 3: Then we also, you know, do a lot with our
18:52
Speaker 3: free summer meals. I think a lot of people don't
18:54
Speaker 3: realize that, you know, a lot of kids get their
18:59
Speaker 3: only meals from school. They often only get breakfast and
19:02
Speaker 3: lunch at school, and then maybe they don't have as
19:04
Speaker 3: much to eat at home, and so free summer meals
19:06
Speaker 3: are really a really critical program that make sure that
19:10
Speaker 3: kids have something to eat, kids and family have something
19:14
Speaker 3: to eat to.
19:16
Speaker 2: Throughout the summer.
19:17
Speaker 3: And so free summer meals are available at a number
19:21
Speaker 3: of markets and a number of locations across the district,
19:25
Speaker 3: especially at Fresh from Columbia Heights for children aged one
19:30
Speaker 3: to eighteen in July and August. So that's a free
19:34
Speaker 3: summer meals program. But I really encourage folks to google
19:37
Speaker 3: free Summer Meals in the district. It is so much
19:39
Speaker 3: bigger than Fresh Farm and is really a great avenue
19:43
Speaker 3: for kids to be able to ensure that they're getting
19:46
Speaker 3: fed throughout the summer when schools are closed. We also
19:50
Speaker 3: run Produce Plus, which is a really extraordinary program funded
19:54
Speaker 3: by the DC Department of Health, and it's the program
19:57
Speaker 3: that we administer. Produce Plus is essentially putting forty dollars
20:03
Speaker 3: a month in those who are eligible.
20:06
Speaker 2: Who sign up to spend it our farmer's markets.
20:09
Speaker 3: So last year we serve about eleven thousand people with
20:13
Speaker 3: that program and had a wait list, and so the
20:16
Speaker 3: need and the demand is there, and people just have
20:19
Speaker 3: to you know, essentially selfist test that they are lower
20:23
Speaker 3: income and they're able to sign up for this program.
20:26
Speaker 3: And so our application is actually we just opened it
20:30
Speaker 3: a couple of weeks ago for this kind of next round.
20:32
Speaker 3: So Produce Plus is really one of our signature efforts
20:35
Speaker 3: and is just an incredible program. And again, you know,
20:38
Speaker 3: so much of these programs are is just about putting
20:40
Speaker 3: more people, more money in people's pockets so they can
20:43
Speaker 3: spend they have more spending power, you know, to put
20:47
Speaker 3: food on the table and spend it at our farmer's markets.
20:50
Speaker 3: The other piece that we talk about often is and
20:53
Speaker 3: the other thing I was just going to say to
20:54
Speaker 3: Dennis on fresh Match as well. You know, fresh Match
20:58
Speaker 3: is a program that we run, but people can use
21:02
Speaker 3: those benefits at farmers markets across the d m V.
21:06
Speaker 3: It's not just at fresh from markets. So really we
21:08
Speaker 3: want to make it as easy.
21:10
Speaker 2: As possible for you to use those dollars.
21:14
Speaker 3: So you know, we're really trying to meet people where
21:16
Speaker 3: they are on the fresh Match front and then on
21:19
Speaker 3: food recovery, so you know, we work really closely with
21:22
Speaker 3: not of course our farmers and producers, but a number
21:25
Speaker 3: of nonprofit organizations here in the district and throughout the
21:29
Speaker 3: d m V to glean you know, literally tens of
21:32
Speaker 3: thousands of pounds of fresh and local food at our
21:35
Speaker 3: markets each year. And that's often the you know, the
21:36
Speaker 3: food that maybe they don't sell, that that they can't
21:39
Speaker 3: bring back to their farms or to their you know shops,
21:43
Speaker 3: that will go bad, and so we don't want that
21:45
Speaker 3: food to be wasted, so that will go to uh,
21:47
Speaker 3: you know a number of you know, nonprofit organizations throughout
21:50
Speaker 3: the d m V and be put to good use.
21:52
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad that you highlighted that lasting and they're
21:55
Speaker 1: all incredible things. But restaurants and commercial partners are are
21:59
Speaker 1: really big deal to you, aren't they? Can you kind
22:00
Speaker 1: of expand on that too.
22:01
Speaker 3: For us, our commercial and restaurant partners are a really
22:04
Speaker 3: key piece of the puzzle. You know, as I mentioned,
22:06
Speaker 3: they buy from our food Hub, which is a really
22:09
Speaker 3: probably the West understood element of freshrount, but one of
22:13
Speaker 3: the coolest. It's really essentially our wholesale arm. So it
22:17
Speaker 3: allows entities, commercial and nonprofit to purchase fresh, local produce
22:22
Speaker 3: from farmers at wholesale prices, and so you know, having
22:27
Speaker 3: that revenue from uh uh, from restaurants and from you know,
22:33
Speaker 3: commercial entities is critical. It's not only critical for us,
22:36
Speaker 3: but it's critical it's another revenue source for those local
22:39
Speaker 3: farmers that it sustains them and creates that economic opportunity
22:44
Speaker 3: that they might not have. It also is, you know, traditionally,
22:49
Speaker 3: you know, smaller businesses, nonprofit organizations, and small and mid
22:53
Speaker 3: sized farmers which is what you know we we cater to,
22:57
Speaker 3: are often left out of the wholesale conversation. That's usually
23:00
Speaker 3: bigger farmers and bigger institutions that are selling at those prices.
23:04
Speaker 3: And so that's really what the Foodhub is trying to do,
23:07
Speaker 3: is trying to bring in those small and mid sized
23:09
Speaker 3: farmers into the wholesale conversation and make it more accessible
23:12
Speaker 3: to them. The other thing I'll just say too, is,
23:15
Speaker 3: you know, we really focus on not only small and
23:17
Speaker 3: mid sized farmers, but small and mid size and black
23:20
Speaker 3: and brown farmers as well.
23:21
Speaker 2: And so that's you know, really.
23:23
Speaker 1: I love that I love that you do. I love
23:25
Speaker 1: that you do. That's that's extraordinary, you know, one of
23:28
Speaker 1: the things that got my attention. And they're all great
23:30
Speaker 1: incredible things you do when it comes to food access.
23:32
Speaker 1: But I've had I've been very fortuitous when I've lived
23:35
Speaker 1: in other markets of learning about, you know, how people
23:38
Speaker 1: aren't as lucky as me. And one of the things
23:40
Speaker 1: I learned when I lived out in the West Coast
23:41
Speaker 1: in Portland, Oregon, was they had a transitional school and
23:44
Speaker 1: it was basically a school for unhoused kids. I didn't
23:48
Speaker 1: know these things existed. It was right next door to
23:50
Speaker 1: a church, and as our radio group, we went in
23:52
Speaker 1: there and painted it and got it cleaned up and
23:54
Speaker 1: then figured out how they were going to get meals.
23:57
Speaker 1: And I was learning so much that a lot of
24:00
Speaker 1: house families aren't getting healthy food and they're not getting
24:03
Speaker 1: three squares like you and I are the lucky ones
24:05
Speaker 1: out there. And it just caught my attention that you
24:07
Speaker 1: are working with school partners and you are working with
24:10
Speaker 1: education and also children to make sure that they're fed,
24:13
Speaker 1: because there are folks, there's a lot of kids out there.
24:15
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of adults too. Well. There's a
24:18
Speaker 1: lot of children out there who don't have a home,
24:20
Speaker 1: that live in hotels or on the street with their parents,
24:23
Speaker 1: or maybe they're older teenagers by themselves that are on
24:26
Speaker 1: house and don't get the opportunity to have a nice, fresh,
24:30
Speaker 1: healthy meal. So I'm super glad that you're also hitting
24:34
Speaker 1: that bucket too. I know it's probably a big deal.
24:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's you know, I think there's a
24:38
Speaker 3: lot of unseen food and security in the district that
24:42
Speaker 3: people don't realize and realize how lucky they are, but
24:46
Speaker 3: often and also don't realize that there are families who
24:49
Speaker 3: are really struggling. And you know, I think that's why
24:51
Speaker 3: our food access programs are so critical. You know, I
24:53
Speaker 3: think we really try to make it as normal and
24:58
Speaker 3: as deep sigmatized as possible so that people have choice,
25:02
Speaker 3: they can choose whatever they you know, whatever produce they
25:04
Speaker 3: want to pick at the market, whatever market they want
25:06
Speaker 3: to shop at, so that they can decide what's best.
25:09
Speaker 2: For their family and their kids.
25:11
Speaker 3: I think the other key piece too, is, you know,
25:13
Speaker 3: I mentioned briefly the food Prints program, which is in
25:16
Speaker 3: twenty one DC public schools and serves eight thousand kids
25:19
Speaker 3: and almost every ward in the districts, and it's you know,
25:24
Speaker 3: part of that program is not only showing kids that
25:27
Speaker 3: you know where their food comes from, how to cook it,
25:30
Speaker 3: you know, how to enjoy a meal together. But it
25:33
Speaker 3: also you know, is building those lifetime habits that will
25:38
Speaker 3: you know, sustain them into their future and also will
25:41
Speaker 3: trickle down into their families. You know, we often hear
25:44
Speaker 3: kids talking about, mom, can we have kale salad for dinner?
25:48
Speaker 3: I need it at school, and the parents will be like, wait,
25:51
Speaker 3: what you want kale salad? And so, you know, it's
25:55
Speaker 3: one of our most popular recipes and so the you know,
25:58
Speaker 3: it's really the trickle down effects that are really powerful.
26:02
Speaker 3: The other thing that's great about food Prints is, you know,
26:05
Speaker 3: we're often trying to bridge that gap and so doing
26:07
Speaker 3: education to families about hey, did you know, you know,
26:10
Speaker 3: are you struggling to put food on the table. Did
26:12
Speaker 3: you know that Snap and Wick and other you know,
26:14
Speaker 3: food access programs exist, you know, so we try to
26:17
Speaker 3: make those connections for families as well. The other thing
26:20
Speaker 3: that we do also, you know, our food Prints program
26:22
Speaker 3: is largely in pre K to fifth grade students, but
26:25
Speaker 3: we also do some work in early childhood centers, so
26:28
Speaker 3: so little little tiny, little six month olds all the
26:31
Speaker 3: way to pre K and so you know, trying to
26:34
Speaker 3: really start that journey as early as possible, as you
26:37
Speaker 3: and I both know you don't know your food habit
26:39
Speaker 3: starts so so early. But also doing we also really
26:43
Speaker 3: try to not only educate the families, but educate staff,
26:46
Speaker 3: you know, the teachers and those who are you know,
26:50
Speaker 3: we are fortunate, so fortunate to have in our communities
26:53
Speaker 3: taking care of our kids, you know, making sure that
26:56
Speaker 3: they have the skills too to you know, be healthy
26:59
Speaker 3: as well.
27:00
Speaker 1: I would also say this that you know, and this
27:02
Speaker 1: is just in general terms of my experience, why it
27:05
Speaker 1: is expensive at times depending on what supermarket you go
27:08
Speaker 1: to to eat healthy. When you go to one of
27:11
Speaker 1: these farmers' markets, you're getting a great price that grocery
27:14
Speaker 1: stores aren't throwing at you. And that's not to despair
27:17
Speaker 1: to me, because we all grocery shop. But when you
27:19
Speaker 1: go to these markets, you get great deals on fresh food.
27:22
Speaker 1: You really do, Yeah, you do.
27:23
Speaker 3: And I think there's you know, especially when food is
27:27
Speaker 3: in season, you know you might be getting a better
27:29
Speaker 3: deal than you're getting get at the grocery store. You know,
27:31
Speaker 3: certainly on things like eggs too, you're probably going to
27:34
Speaker 3: get a better deal. And in some instances the food
27:36
Speaker 3: is more expensive, and there's a reason for that. There's
27:39
Speaker 3: a reason for that. You know, the farmers are are
27:44
Speaker 3: are are are traveling much less distance, They're probably spraying
27:48
Speaker 3: it with much less chemicals. They're you know, they're growing
27:52
Speaker 3: practices are probably you know, have a way smaller operation
27:56
Speaker 3: than some of you know, the food that might be
27:58
Speaker 3: purchased from, you know, some of the bigger grocery stores.
28:00
Speaker 3: So you know, not only are you you know, if
28:03
Speaker 3: you do see higher prices, you know there's a reason
28:06
Speaker 3: for that. It's not because they have these you know,
28:08
Speaker 3: huge profits. As we mentioned before, you know they're operating
28:11
Speaker 3: on really thin margins. And again, you know, if you
28:14
Speaker 3: are paying a little bit more, hopefully you can rest
28:16
Speaker 3: assured that one you're supporting local business, as we've been saying,
28:20
Speaker 3: you're helping local farmer and producers stay in business. You're
28:23
Speaker 3: also getting food that is probably going to be sprayed
28:26
Speaker 3: with way less stuff, if anything, because it doesn't have
28:30
Speaker 3: to sustain those long travel distances, and it's going to
28:32
Speaker 3: last a lot longer than food you probably get in
28:35
Speaker 3: the grocery store. So you know, just knowing that when
28:38
Speaker 3: you're going in and kind of setting your expectations, I
28:40
Speaker 3: think is helpful and in case, you do see some
28:43
Speaker 3: of those prices a little bit higher than you might
28:45
Speaker 3: see in the grocery store, but as you mentioned, you know,
28:47
Speaker 3: and you can really get some really great deals. And
28:50
Speaker 3: the food is the taste is I think in my
28:53
Speaker 3: obviously i'm biased.
28:54
Speaker 1: But that's okay too.
28:57
Speaker 2: You know, the taste is just on parallel and the
28:59
Speaker 2: food that you get there.
29:00
Speaker 1: Kat, I only have thirty seconds left, so I want
29:02
Speaker 1: you to give the website one more time and then
29:03
Speaker 1: we're going to revisit with you again down the road,
29:05
Speaker 1: because I know you're getting into the wheelhouse and the
29:07
Speaker 1: farmers markets with the weather finally being fantastic out, so
29:10
Speaker 1: it's going to hopefully thrive out of all of them.
29:13
Speaker 1: Let's give the website for one more people and remind
29:15
Speaker 1: them that they can donate on the website and check
29:17
Speaker 1: out a lot of great information. Whoever built the website.
29:19
Speaker 1: It's fun, it's easy to navigate. There's a lot of
29:21
Speaker 1: cool information on there. Tell everybody about the website one
29:24
Speaker 1: more time.
29:25
Speaker 3: So freshfarm dot org again. Freshfarm dot org is our website.
29:31
Speaker 3: I'd encourage you to come check us out see everything
29:33
Speaker 3: that we're doing. You're able to find any farmers market
29:35
Speaker 3: that we run, and there's an easy map you can
29:38
Speaker 3: see the schedule there as well. It also allows you
29:41
Speaker 3: to donate, really encourage and welcome any and all donations.
29:44
Speaker 2: They help.
29:45
Speaker 3: Every little bit matters and helps put food on the
29:47
Speaker 3: table for somebody else and support your local farmers and
29:50
Speaker 3: producers and so every little bit helps.
29:52
Speaker 1: Fantastic Kat, It's great to feature you in Fresh farm
29:54
Speaker 1: on Community DC. Continue success. I want to stay in touch.
29:57
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time.
29:58
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you so much. We're having meat