Farm Fresh Rhode Island blog

What unites a cupcakerie, a dog bakery, and a pesto makerie? Their common-thread is their shared kitchen space in Cranston, RI. The road to the retail shop was long, but it all began with a farmers market!

Marni MacLean Karro took her love of dogs and love of baking, and created Jack’s Snacks, a dog bakery, in 2004. She started selling her dog biscuits made with fresh, human-grade ingredients at farmers’ markets, festivals, and online. She has been selling at Farm Fresh markets two years ago.

Kristin Brennan got her bachelor’s degree in costume design, then headed to Florida to work for the Ringling Brothers Circus. After realizing that the entertainment business wasn’t for her she decided to move on. She wanted to combine her design talents with her love of cooking, and her mother suggested that she start making cupcakes. In June 2009 she launched her own cupcake business, The Cupcakerie, at the Downtown Providence Farmers Market.

Michelle Kozloski has been farming for 12 years, 6 years in Rhode Island. In 2008 she started her own farm, Zephyr Farm, where she grows organic veggies and raises chickens. She also co-founded Besto Pesto, made with her own garlic and basil, and created a pesto-loving fan base at area farmers markets.

All three of these women were renting space in kitchens, but wanted to grow their business and were looking for their own commercial kitchen and retail location. They met at a gathering for Farm Fresh RI’s Open Kitchen project that brought a group of small food business-owners together to look at a potential kitchen space in Central Falls. Although that space didn’t work out, Marni, Michelle and Kristin kept in touch about other ideas. After lots of searching, they finally found the space in Cranston! Stop in sometime for a cup of New Harvest Coffee, and a treat for you and your dog.

You can find all three of these women-owned local food businesses under one roof at their new shop, 1860 Broad St. in Cranston, and at the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers Market.

New at the market just in time for Valentine’s Day!

• Aquidneck Honey will be joining the market.
• Port Clyde Fresh Catch will have sustainably-caught shrimp for sale outside by the Chez Pascal hot dog truck.
• Farmacy Herbs herbalist Mary Blue will be doing a free demo of making herbal fire cider at noon in the Greenhouse.
• Huckleberries Pies are back with apple  tartlets and a few sweet potato too!

Celebrate Valentine’s a day early with a date at the Wintertime Farmers Market. So much love goes into the food delicately grown by our farmers and freshly crafted by our producers, right here by the Ocean State.  While tracking down ingredients for the perfect dinner for two, or perhaps sneaking away to buy a surprise hunk of cheese, treat your Valentine to a few bites for lunch:

• Start with a hot cup of freshly roasted New Harvest Coffee.
• Try the Creperie’s Nutella hazelnut chocolate & strawberry crepes.
• Get a scoop of Kafe’ Lila bittersweet chocolate ice cream.
• Sit by the café tables, sip and nibble, and enjoy the string band.

… or pick up a gift for your lovely:

• Fragrant herbs and flowers from Pezza or Allen Farms
  
• Farmacy Herbs Sweetheart Tea or bath salts scented with rose or lavender.
• Seven Stars heart cookies and Olga’s tarts or cakes.
• Cupcakerie cupcakes- they taste as good as they look!
• Spice things up with chipotle salsa from Poblano Farm or hot pepper jelly from Hickory Hill.
• Jack’s Snacks dog treats for the furry friends that you love!
• Local honey for your honey.
• Taza chocolates for sale at the Farmstead booth.

Valentine’s Day Recipe Ideas!
Pick up all the fresh + local ingredients you need for a romantic meal at home! The Winter Market has everything you need, from seafood to sweets, for a meal to share with those you love:

• Oysters speak the language of love. Try raw oysters, baked oysters, or poached oysters.
• Combine local cheeses for a luscious cheese fondue. Try dipping brussel sprouts, apple slices, roasted squash and potato.
• Try a to-die-for seafood ragu with local clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp!
• Make an simple yet impressive entree, like shrimp risotto.
• Cocoa-dusted scallops with sweet potatoes and a citrus sauce will wow anyone.

And of course, there’s dessert!
You can leave it to the ice cream-making, cupcake + pie-baking experts! Or try your hand at:

• Caramelized oranges with ricotta cheese.
• Apple cinnamon creme brulée with local eggs, apples and cream!
• Pick up your favorite local jam for these easy jam bars. Top with local yogurt or ice cream.

The chart above shows EBT (aka Food Stamps aka SNAP) sales at our farmers markets for every month of the year between 2007, 2008 and 2009. Not counted in the graph is an additional $11,000 in 2009 from the Bonus Bucks program described below, bringing the 2009 total to over $32,000.

Fresh for All is the theme of this year’s Local Food Forum. At a time when our local farms are growing and the local food economy is enjoying great success, we are taking this day to examine how to make sure every Rhode Islander is able to participate in our (Rhode Is)land of plenty.

If we look back, one of the reasons why agriculture stagnated for so many decades is because farms and fresh food became increasingly irrelevant to people’s lives. So, going forward, how can we ensure that RI agriculture reaches every Rhode Islander? How can we ensure that every Rhode Islander feels invested in our farms and our food, and likewise that Rhode Island farmers have a stake in our cities and towns?

Farmers markets are one way that rural and urban Rhode Island can connect. By running farmers markets in Providence, Pawtucket and Woonsocket, Farm Fresh RI provides ways for city folks to participate in local agriculture, and for local agriculture to play a role in the city. These markets provide an important source of fresh fruits and vegetables in many neighborhoods and a key source of income for many farms. This win-win is helped by innovative programs that make these foods even more affordable at a time when a record number of Rhode Islanders are using SNAP, the new name for Food Stamps.

In 2007, we began accepting SNAP at our farmers markets and in summer 2009, we partnered with the Wholesome Wave Foundation to offer Bonus Bucks to SNAP customers at our markets. Every SNAP customer could receive up to $10 extra to shop at the market per day. The Bonus Bucks program allows people to stretch their food budgets farther and still provide healthy foods for their family. The Bonus Bucks program also increases the buying power of communities that may be otherwise be perceived by farmers as less lucrative. Farmers, after all, have to make a buck too.

Bonus Bucks was a runaway success, so much so that SNAP customer participation in the 2009 markets increased seven-fold vs. 2008. We’re excited to announce that we’re able to extend the program to the 2010 Wintertime Farmers Market thanks to generous funding from The Rhode Island Foundation. (If you’d like to help get the word out, there’s a double-sided flier you can print out and pass around.)

The keynote speaker at this year’s Local Food Forum is Gus Schumacher, chairman of the Wholesome Wave Foundation. Before tackling Bonus Bucks for SNAP, Gus pioneered the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which is a federal program providing low-income mothers and children with $15 coupons each year for farmers market produce. The program has brought fresh foods within reach for hundreds of thousands and has provided millions of dollars for thousands of family farms. Now Bonus Bucks, which is operating as a pilot in over a dozen cities across the country, has the potential to do the same for thousands more in Rhode Island, and millions of Americans.

What other Fresh for All ideas are out there? Among them, the incredible farm-to-school work of KidsFirst; our Healthy Foods, Healthy Families nutrition education program at neighborhood farmers markets and similar programs from URI and Johnson & Wales; CSAs and farmers markets that accept SNAP; the community gardens of Southside Community Land Trust; the school gardens of the Children’s Garden Network; school trips to orchards and working farms; and in 2010, the WIC program will expand to offer mothers monthly coupons for fruits and veggies.

We look forward to continuing the conversation at the Local Food Forum!