Latest / The City of Frankfort Podcast / Ep 33: Live at the Farmer's Market

Transcript

Ep 33: Live at the Farmer's Market · The City of Frankfort Podcast

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  From Capitol Halls to Bourbon Balls, this is the City of Frankfurt podcast for
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  the Frankfortians. We're swapping stories, spilling the tea,
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  and celebrating the quirks that make Kentucky's capital the best hometown around.
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  Welcome to the City of Frankfurt podcast. I'm Sarah, and I'm here today with
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  Eddie Fowler with the Franklin County Farmers Market.
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  And we're here to learn about how the market contributes to the community and
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  to celebrate National Farmers Market Week. Welcome, Eddie.
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  Hi. I wanted to just start out by telling us a little bit about yourself and
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  your position within the farmer's market.
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  Yes, my name is Eddie Fowler and I am the executive director of the Franklin
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  County Farmer's Market.
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  I kind of help oversee some of the programming at the farmer's market and some development.
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  I am currently working.
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  In the process of doing a, with our food share program and other things,
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  just making sure the farmer's market is running smoothly and that all of our
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  food access programs go well.
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  Excellent. Can you kind of talk us a little bit through the market makeup?
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  Like how many vendors do you have? What kind of products do you guys sell?
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  So our farmers, we're a producer only market.
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  So what that means is that all of our products that are being sold at the market
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  are either developed or grown by the vendors that are at the market.
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  So it's a very unique style of market.
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  There's no resale option. So you just know that the person typically behind
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  the booth is the person who makes that product.
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  And we range anywhere from 20 to 35 vendors at the market.
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  During our off seasons, it'll be a little bit less.
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  But, you know, we still try to make it worthwhile market for everybody.
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  Awesome. That sounds like it leaves people with a lot of choices. Yes.
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  That's a good thing. And it ranges from everything from, you know,
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  your baked goods, your home processed goods, James jellies.
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  So breads, lots of meats and also vegetables, of course, the typical farmer's market there.
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  We have, you know, anywhere from five to 10 producers of vegetables at the market.
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  Awesome. And what is your schedule?
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  Where can people find you? So there are multiple options to shop at the market throughout the week.
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  Our more regular schedule every week is Tuesday.
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  We're here at the Tuesday market, 830 to noon. And then we also have the option
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  for people to shop online and be able to pick up their order.
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  So we have a workplace delivery program as well. I know you have participated
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  in the past where we deliver to at least 15 different locations here around town.
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  So if somebody wants to participate in the Workplace Delivery Program, they can register.
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  And then that gives them access to our online portal. And they can order from
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  Monday to Tuesday. And they order by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
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  They can have their order delivered to one of the workplace delivery sites on
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  Thursday. Well, and having formally participated in this program, what's it called?
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  Farm to Frankfurt? Yes, it is an awesome program.
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  I mean, it's really stellar. Yeah, it's definitely a great program.
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  And it definitely, we have Caitlin Pinkston, our line sales manager,
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  does an amazing job organizing that program and keeping it going.
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  And so, you know, those programs. And we also have curbside pickup.
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  So, and curbside pickup is an option that we have for, you know,
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  People who aren't able to necessarily make it to our market on the weekends
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  or, you know, just say that the, you know, parking can be a potential issue or something like that.
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  But this allows people to actually drive underneath the pavilion and their order
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  just gets loaded directly into their vehicle.
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  Awesome. And that's 930 to 10, but you still have to order by 530 on Tuesday
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  to be able to have that option.
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  And then we have, of course, our big market, our Saturday market,
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  which is 830 to noon again on Saturday. And this is we'll have our full lineup
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  of vendors during that market. Awesome.
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  Do you mind to fill us in a little bit? Tell us about some of your specific
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  programs that you have to offer. So we try to make the farmers,
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  we try to make the market as accessible to the community as possible.
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  So there are several great programs that we offer at the farmers market with
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  our partners of Community Farm Alliance.
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  That has, for those who know, we have Kentucky Double Dollars and we actually
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  accept SNAP at the market as well. Oh, that's awesome.
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  And with the offering of Snap and also the Kentucky Double Dollars,
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  we're able to double people's Snap purchasing power at the market.
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  So when somebody comes to the market that we can run their Snap card,
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  they can get $20 off their card, and then we can give them an additional $20
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  shop for fruits and vegetables at the market.
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  That's a big deal. Yeah. I really like that. That's an awesome program. It's great.
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  And so it also, you know, it just wants those, it gives people an additional
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  way to shop at the market.
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  We also have FreshRx, which if somebody's on, right now we expanded the program
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  this year to include anybody on WIC.
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  So it used to be just Medicaid, but now it's anybody with WIC can, pregnant and WIC.
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  So two qualifying marks there to be able to access fresh vegetables at the market.
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  So they get $26 a week to shop for vegetables, plus a $5 voucher for a edible item at the market.
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  That's really amazing. That's really cool. I like that. We also offer a senior WIC program.
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  So for seniors with limited income, they can go to our Senior Citizen Center.
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  It's a tongue twister. Yeah, it is.
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  Or I can just call it the Senior Activity Center. It's a lot easier. Um, and they can, um,
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  get a card with $50 on it.
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  And that gives them, uh, that they can use at the farmer's market.
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  Awesome. And that gives them access to, uh, $50 of fruit and vegetables and honey.
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  And then we also give them an additional $30 to shop for additional fruit, vegetables, and honey.
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  Uh, we also, uh, if you call, if, um, anybody who has WIC or kids, we also offer a,
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  um, program through the health department where people with WIC can get some
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  additional funds to shop for at the market.
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  I love this. We also have our Kids Day program, which during the second Saturday
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  of every month during our regular season.
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  With our generous gifts from our sponsors, we're able to give kids under the
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  age of 18 $2 to shop for any fruit, vegetable, or plant at the market.
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  And it offers, we also have several of our community partners that offer Kids Day activities.
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  I love that. I love Kids Day. I think it's just tons of fun.
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  Yeah, it's great. High energy.
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  Yeah. Yeah, it's great having the kids come down and being able to make the
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  choice for themselves on what they buy. Yes. Teaching good habits, right?
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  So, Eddie, you've brought up a few times the new Pavilion facility.
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  Why don't you kind of tell us about how that transition's been?
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  How's that going for you?
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  Yeah, so we started out our season here at April 25th.
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  It was our first day opening here at the market.
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  So we're here at 203 Home Street now.
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  We really enjoy it. It's a nice big pavilion.
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  The parking has been greatly improved. Now there are still certain issues that
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  we're starting to work through.
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  Traffic flow and how to make the market as accessible as possible for people.
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  But in general, it's been really positive. I think being closer to the Home
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  Street and the Home Street residents, we get a lot more people than I think
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  I've seen before. That's excellent. That's good.
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  And we've been the city has been working with the plant board to get free Internet
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  access here as well. And hopefully very soon some water access for you guys.
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  That'll be very great. It'll be much improved.
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  Yeah. Well, Eddie, why don't you tell us about your upcoming event,
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  the Franklin County Community Fun Breakfast.
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  Yeah. So with this grant from the Franklin County Community Fund, we're able to.
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  Offer free breakfast to the community from 830 to noon on August 29th.
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  So that's our last Saturday of this month.
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  We'll be giving out while supplies last. As I said, it's limited.
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  We only have 500. We'll have a vegetarian offering and a meat option.
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  And we'll be giving out burritos, breakfast burritos. That's awesome.
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  500. That's huge. I love that.
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  So Citi is also going to be set up on that same day. It's our third of four
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  scheduled town hall events.
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  So there will be representatives from various departments, elected officials,
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  and there will be the Riverfront Development Plan available for people to review.
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  We will be set up from 10 to 12 alongside the Farmers Market activities.
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  So everyone should come on down and join us.
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  Well, Eddie, we are to my absolute favorite part of the podcast episodes,
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  and that is Frankfurt Rapid Fire. So as a fellow Frankfortian,
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  we want to hear some of your takes on our town.
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  You just say the first thing that comes to mind. No explanation needed. OK?
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  OK. All right. Let's do this. What is your favorite season in Frankfurt? Spring. Spring.
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  Coffee or tea? Coffee. Coffee. I'm a tea girl. Fair.
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  One word to describe the farmer's market.
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  Lively. Lively. That's a great word. Favorite vegetable to purchase at the market?
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  Shiitake mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms. And your favorite, Frankfurt Park.
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  Capital View Park. Excellent choice.
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  Well, thank you guys for joining us this week.
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  We'll catch up with you again next week on the City of Frankfurt podcast.
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  Don't forget to follow the City of Frankfurt podcast on Facebook,
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  Instagram, and TikTok. And make sure to subscribe to our show feed on Podbean
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  to get weekly episode notifications.
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  Thanks. Come see us at the market. Yes.