In less than a month, the Philomath Farmers’ Market will return for a fifth summer. Over a stretch of 22 weeks from May 26 to Oct. 20, the community can enjoy fresh produce and other items offered by a variety of vendors.
This year’s event will feature a new program that focuses on the importance of child nutrition. The market’s manager, Janel Lajoie, said a primary goal is to “create health conscious and knowledgeable shoppers from a younger age.”
In partnership with and through grant funding from the The Linn Benton Lincoln Health Equity Authority, this summer’s farmers’ market will offer a Power of Produce Club, commonly referred to as a POP Club. Participants get a passport and a $2 token each week to spend on any fruit or vegetable at the market.
“Kids can come to the market, parents sign a waiver and we’ll have food for them to try every week — a fresh fruit or vegetable from the market,” Lajoie said. “They’ll get a wooden token … and with that, they can go and either purchase food that week or they can save up tokens and buy something more expensive later.”
The original POP Club was launched in 2011 at Oregon City and has caught on at various farmers markets around the country.
“We’ll have an activity every week … everything from a scavenger hunt to go-and-meet a farmer, find three red foods, those kinds of things,” Lajoie said. “They can have a fun activity to do at the market that helps them learn a little bit more about where food comes from.”
Another benefit of the program, Lajoie added, is simply keeping kids engaged during the summer months while out of school. Plus, it’s a way to support the local food system and interact with farmers and growers.
Then, there is the “two-bite challenge” with a different fruit or vegetable each week.
“No pressure, but we’ll have food available for the kids to try with the idea that sometimes it’ll take a kid up to 20 times of seeing or touching or tasting before they decide they like it,” Lajoie said. “So to give them just an opportunity to try something that maybe they haven’t tried at home.”
The majority of POP Club programs have an age range of 5-12 for participants, however, Lajoie doesn’t want to implement any such restrictions.
“I think that health and nutrition is not age specific, I mean, other than choking hazards (for babies and toddlers) of course,” she said. “A lot of other markets, which I’m hoping to maybe do in the future, have like a senior POP Club as well, which is a cool idea.”
The farmers’ market dates fall on Sundays and have the hours of 11 a.m.-3 p.m. It sets up in the parking lot area in front of Philomath Community Library and the Philomath Police Department.
Philomath Farmers’ Market operates under the nonprofit Bountiful Backyard. Lajoie said it has been an objective for the organization to think about how to give back to kids in the community while being a positive influence in some way.
“Yeah, I’ve been looking at the POP Club for a few years but didn’t have the bandwidth, the resources, the money,” Lajoie said. “So when this grant came up, I looked at it and decided that we fit into that ‘policy and systems change’ category with this idea.”
POP Club programs typically appear as part of larger farmers markets — in the 150- to 300-vendor range.
“Obviously we’re not that big and don’t want to be but just want to get to the kids in our community,” Lajoie said.
In Benton County, 40% of students are eligible for the Free and Reduced Price Meals program, according to 2022 information published by the Oregon Hunger Task Force. The summer meals program brings in a daily average of 2,042 kids. In addition, 27% of Benton County children live in food insecure households that do not qualify for nutrition assistance.
“When you look at the numbers, sometimes those are the kids that maybe don’t have as much access to fruits and vegetables,” she said. “So the idea is giving them their own money that they can go and shop for something that they are interested in, you know, whether it’s something they tasted this week or not.”
Any vendors interested in the Philomath Farmers’ Market can email Lajoie at janel@bountifulbackyard.org or go to a vendor registration page through ManageMyMarket.com. Lajoie said she is also on the lookout for entertainers.
