2/5/2010 2:07:00 PM Farmers Market may accept WIC
and senior vouchers Neighbor feedback requested at Queen Anne Community Council meeting
A Queen Anne Farmers Market vendor prepares a recipe for jarring food for winter. At tonight’s Queen Anne Community Council meeting, market operators were looking for community feedback.
Last year's Queen Anne Farmers Market may have been "put together with Scotch tape," but the numbers indicate it was a hit with the neighborhood and the vendors.
"Our 16-week season was put together with Scotch tape and good will for a couple months this spring," said QA Farmers Market Association Chair Julie Whitehorn, who spearheaded the efforts to ensure the neighborhood didn't lose a market. "And we were able to have a full market with an average of 27 vendors and 1,000 visitors every week."
Vendors also experienced a 10 percent increase in sales over last summer and each market day had waitlisted vendors. The QA Farmers Market is the only nonprofit independent farmers market in the city.
"We had an opportunity this last summer to ask, 'Do we want to keep this as an independent, neighborhood-run market?' and everyone said yes," Whitehorn said. "Even those of us who were exhausted from hundreds of hours of devotion to it, we knew we had something really special."
Despite dealing with a host of obstacles, like losing two market managers, the location of McClure Middle School's parking lot and the uncertainty of whether the new location at Queen Anne Avenue North and West Crockett Street would be approved, the community's fervor kept the market from leaving.
"We had great hopes for last season," Whitehorn said. "The community really responded...I am fairly confident the community has voted really loudly this is something they want and will support."
Last year, the market's operations were funded with a $15,000 grant from the city and $10,000 in donations. QA Farmers Market will have to raise $25,000 to cover costs of the 2010 season, since it didn't receive any city funding.
Because Sweetbrier now has tenants and the city added some greenery along West Crockett Street, the current space will mean a slight cutback for the market, so the QAFMA hopes to expand the market into the aquatic center parking lot this season.
In response to market-goers requests, three weeks were added to the season and hours might be extended during midsummer.
The market will also accept WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers and plans to accept food stamps as well this year, if the funding is secured. The surplus donation program will take place again; in the 2009 seasons, QAFM farmers donated more than 1,500 pounds of produce to the Queen Anne Helpline.
Emmer&rye will host a cocktail fundraiser to start the season, from 5-7 p.m, March 7 where the 2010 poster by local artist Elizabeth Mullaly will be unveiled. The market will run from 3-7 p.m., Thursdays from May 20-Oct. 7.
As the market moves ahead and expands, Whitehorn said it will maintain its neighborhood focus and influence.
"This is truly neighbor-supported. We welcome volunteers, advice," Whitehorn said. "We want out-of-the-box thinking about how to make this uniquely Queen Anne and financially sustainable for the long run."
Whitehorn will present the market's status to the Queen Anne Community Council tonight at the 7:30 p.m. QACC meeting in the McClure Middle School cafeteria.
