It is so crazy that my summer is now over, and the CCE internship has come to a close! These past two weeks, I started out by making the “Fall Veggie Salad” in the CCE Tompkins county kitchen. This recipe is full of apples, peaches, broccoli, corn, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, and so much goodness. I enjoyed the meditative time in the kitchen chopping veggies and creating beautiful dishes.

After cooking, I went to Trumansburg market to serve samples and talk with people about FMNP. My last Wednesday at Trumansburg was glorious, and there were so many happy families. The music was wonderful, and so many people got up to dance and enjoy the August sun.

Next, I went to the Elmira market on Tuesday. It was very small, and the weather was very ominous and stormy. Because there were very few people at the market, I took some of the Amish children who were helping at their family farm stand over to the river. It was really nice to be with the kids and see them playing in the river without a care in the world. I love childlike wonder and play. I did speak to a few people about FMNP in Elmira, but the market was strikingly slow.

Next, I went to the Ithaca Wednesday market. It was pouring rain, and my tent was leaking quite a bit. Luckily, some of my farmer friends brought me edible flowers to use in my baking! It is lovely to be making friends with the vendors at each market, and I love exchanging little gifts, produce, and baked goods. The market was decently busy despite the rain, and it was nice to push through the yucky weather.

Finally, I went to Montour falls for the last market of my internship. I talked to a lot of people, and my samples were a hit. It was nice to see familiar faces, but I also met some new vendors and saw new customers. My bosses came to the market to talk about the end of my market season and to help me move all my market gear over to their cars. How kind! It was really awesome to have such a nice last market day, and I really appreciated the support from my bosses.

Enjoy these last photos!

Hello Again!

It is already the first week of August, how crazy is that? I started out the week with shopping at Wegmans and buying plastic free produce items for the “No Cook Corn Salad”. It was strangely hard to find plastic free produce items, and I was surprised by how many pre chopped, cut, husked, prepared vegetables were available and wrapped in plastic. It does reduce time, but it was striking to think about how convenience is taking over the food world.

I went to the CCE Tompkins county kitchen next to prepare the corn salad. I chopped tomatoes, corn, cilantro, scallions, garlic, green pepper, and carrots. The recipe smelled amazing, and I packed it up for the three markets this week.

First I went to the Ithaca Wednesday Market. It was a gorgeous day and I handed out over 30 samples. People seemed to really enjoy the recipe, and they took copies of lots of my handouts. I enjoyed interacting with customers, and the market was lovely.

The next day I woke up early and drove out to Corning. The market was beautiful, and full of people! I had so many lovely interactions with customers, and I got a lot of goof feedback about the work CCE is doing in the community. People were kind, happy, and excited to hear about my passions as a college student. It was amazing to talk with so many people who were genuinely interested in what I had to say about nutrition, food security, and preventative approaches to health. The market manager was kind enough to go print me 50 more copies of my recipe because so many people took my samples and recipe sheets.

Finally I went to Dryden on Saturday for a very small market. I was there from 9-1pm and only talked to 6 people total. It was eyeopening to see how slow the market was compared to the weekend Ithaca market. Although it was painful to sit there for so long, I was able to work on evaluating some of the education sheets and activities that FMNP provides for its market educators, and it was good to have the time to get to work on that.

Enjoy these photos below!

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This week I made peach tomato salsa for my markets, and I made sure that Wegmans left out all of the plastic! They have been individually packing each ingredient in plastic, and I want to make sure that sustainability is something that we work towards in FMNP.

After making an extra large batch of salsa, I went out to the Elmira market. The market was about an hour and a half away, and right when I got there, the lightning storms started. The storms were so intense that the market manager asked us all to leave. Sadly, I spent around 3 hours in the car, and much less time at the market. The next day, weather was much better, and I went out to the Trumansburg market. The market was busy, and people loved the salsa! I had so much extra from not serving samples at the Elmira market, and customers kept coming back for seconds and thirds at Tburg. It was really nice to know that people loved the recipe, and I handed out a lot of recipe printouts.

The next day, my mom was visiting from California, and I decided to take her out to Corning to see the market, get some flowers, and enjoy the produce. We drove out (even though it was raining) and got to see so many lovely vendors. It was a great day, and it was very nice to see the market from another perspective.

Enjoy the photos below~

Hello again everyone!

This week flew by, and I worked at three more markets. First, I went to the kitchen Wednesday morning to cook up the peach tomato salsa. Sadly, they only gave me one tomato (even though I needed three), so I had to pivot and make the recipe more peach forward. Wednesday I went to the Ithaca market, and it was really lovely. The weather wasn’t too hot, so there was a good turn out, and I was able to talk to a lot of people. Another vendor gave me free raspberries, and I picked up a massive swiss chard bundle and some carrots! (see the photo below)

Thursday I woke up early and drove to Corning for the 10-3pm market. I set up early and put my samples out. People came and  ate over 25  samples in the first couple hours! The market was long, but there was also a really good turn out of people, and there was lovely weather. I got some flowers and talked to a lot of  farmers and vendors about how they can help influence food security in the community.

Finally, I went to Watkins Glen for the first time on Friday. It was a very small market, and there were not many customers. The people who did come through were mostly friendly, but not all of them wanted to stop by my table because I wasn’t selling anything. People seemed to go to that market to pick up some bread or produce and just go on their way. That is ok! I did my best, and people enjoyed trying samples and taking recipes to try at home.

Overall it was a successful week of markets, and the peach tomato salsa was a hit. I look forward to updating you again next week! Check out the photos below for more insight into this week of markets.

Hello Everyone!

Another week has passed, and I have stories about three farmers markets. I started the week by preparing the same recipe as last week,  the tossed veggie parade~ it is full of corn, romaine, peppers, cucumbers, beets, carrots, radishes, kale, and loads of nutritious veggies. It makes me happy to create such a nutrient rich recipe to share with community members all over upstate NY.

This week I went to Seneca Falls for the first time. This market was a little over an hour away, and I got distracted by baby horses and goats on my drive over. Eyes on the road! The market had a lovely energy, and there were FMNP check distributers as well as other CCE tables. It was nice to see so many people working to create a sustainable and equitable food system. Sadly, the market ended a bit early because of some extreme thunderstorms and rain.

Then I went to Trumansburg on Wednesday. It was happy and lively as always, and the live music was played by the Yardvarks. It was very entertaining 🙂 There was a big rainstorm mid-market, but it didn’t stop people from coming. After the rain, we had even more customers than before.

Finally, I went to Montour Falls on Thursday. It was a very small market this time, only 5 vendors. It was also brutally hot, and there weren’t many people coming to the market. I got to have some lovely conversations with the other vendors, and I learned a lot about what it is like to work on a farm full time. I enjoyed brainstorming ways to get farms and farmers more involved with the movement towards food security. I want FMNP to be more connected to farmers, and I think that CCE can really become more connected to the local farmers and help them bring more extra produce to food insecure families.

Overall it was a good week for the markets, and people really loved the sample despite the large amount of veggies!

Enjoy the photos below.

Week 4 of markets is now complete! This week was much different than expected due to market cancellations. I worked in the kitchen Tuesday morning to cook up a veggie forward meal we call the “veggie parade.” It has beets, corn, beet greens, kale, radishes, cucumber, summer squash, carrots, and lettuces. It truly is a parade of vegetables! I made samples of this recipe for my three markets during the week, but only ended up needing about a third of the recipe.

On Tuesday after cooking, the lightning and thunder started. It was a very stormy day,  and the East Side Elmira market manager let me know that the market was cancelled  (about 10 minutes before I was planning to leave!). Sadly, some samples went to waste, but I  will  get to go to that market  again in the future.

On Wednesday I went to the Ithaca market, which you can see in the photos below. It was a vibrant market, but very hot (85). People were excited about trying the samples, and there were a lot of people interested in talking about food security, CCE, and FMNP.

Finally, I was scheduled to go to Montour Falls on Thursday, but the weather was so rainy that they cancelled the market. Overall it was a slow week for markets, but we will pick back up next week with more!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Hello! I just finished my third week of markets. This week I went to Corning, Ovid, and Penn Yan. I did a LOT of driving. The drives were scenic in the rain, and I got to see a lot of upstate New York as I drove. At Corning, I set up at this adorable park with a fountain and grass area across from a bridge. I was right across from a large family donut business, and it was amazing to watch them whip out batches of donuts and sell out so quickly. It was a lot of families, seniors, and business people at the market. There were kids running around, kids in strollers, and lots of mothers. The senior citizens were the ones who came over and talked to me most. They tended to stay and talk about their lives for a long while, and I was happy to be a listener for them. I learned a lot! This market was fairly busy, but it started pouring rain around noon which stopped the customers from coming. A bonus was that after the market I walked around downtown and visited the cutest antique store I have ever seen.

Next I went to Ovid, which was a very small market. It was surprisingly busy for the size, and I actually ran out of samples of the beet and apple salad. I talked to a lot of people, and many of them qualified for FMNP, which felt really amazing to be catering to the people the program is made for. That park was adorable, and every person I talked to was so kind and open.

Finally I went to Penn Yan, which was around an hour and a half away. It started early, so I left my house around 6am. The market was very slow and very small, and I didn’t get to talk to many people. It also started raining, and that made it hard for people to get outside and visit the market. This market was not my favorite, but I am still glad I was able to see the town and talk to some people about the program. On the plus side, people liked my beet salad samples, and I ran out of recipe sheets!

Here are some photos of the markets this week. Enjoy!

Hello Again. This was my second week of work, and it started out on Tuesday morning. I got up, grabbed a bag of snacks, and drove over an hour to the Auburn market. I was expecting a larger market, but I ended up finding a random parking lot with only two tents. The market was very slow, and it was interesting to watch the ebb and flow of people driving in and leaving the lot. The other two vendors were selling produce, and all three of us were very cold in the 55 degree weather. From 10-2pm I talked to around 10 people about FMNP, and I realized that not all markets are packed and busy like in Ithaca.

Wednesday started out bright and early in the CCE Tompkins county kitchen. I made a beet and apple slaw with cucumber and beet greens for the Ithaca farmers market. I grated 3 beets, an apple, and a cucumber, and I watched the dish come to life with the vibrant colors of beets and beet greens. I packed it up in my cooler, and headed off to the market. I kind man from a local farm helped me set up my tent, and I talked to a wide variety of people from 4-7pm at the market. It was sunny, happy, and full of delicious produce. Lots of people enjoyed my sample, and many customers asked to take the recipe home with them.

Finally, on Thursday, I went to the Montour Falls market, about 45 minutes away. This market was adorable- it was small and shielded from the bright sun by a pavilion. There was live music, a cheese bus, and a variety of small town farms and craftsmen. I enjoyed talking to the other vendors and  listening to the live music.

Here are some photos from this week of markets.

Hello! This is my first blog entry, and I can’t wait to share with you about my first week working for CCE at the farmers markets. The week started out with a few orientations and trainings with my supervisors, and I got to tour the CCE Tompkins County kitchen where I will be cooking food for the markets. I met a woman working for SNAP-ed (food stamps education program) who will also be at the markets, and I learned all about the kitchen where I will be working. I will be going to the kitchen this week to prepare my first produce filled recipe~ beet and apple slaw!

My first market was with my supervisor Emma Kett. We met up at the Trumansburg Market on Wednesday, and we set up our CCE Wayne County FMNP table together. We put out recipes, brochures about FMNP and food assistance programs for senior citizens with low income and WIC participants, healthy eating guides, and samples. We talked all about the different education activities I can use at my table, and we talked all about what to expect at the markets and how to best serve the community. Then the market began! We had quite a few visitors, and it was so lovely to watch the town of Trumansburg come alive. There was live music, children running around, families enjoying time in the sun, and vendors of every kind. There were fried chicken and BBQ trucks, craft booths (ceramics, weaving, and clothes), coffee vendors, produce booths, and so much more. I loved talking to people about their gardens, handing out samples and free pens, talking with kids about their favorite fruits and vegetables, and just engaging with such a wholesome and open community. The highlight of the market was talking to a couple who had been married for 48 years about their backyard garden full of beets, carrots, and greens. They were so lovely, and they took recipes, cooking guides, and healthy eating tips from our booth.

Finally, two of my favorite professors from Cornell came to visit me at my first market! Dr. Felice and Dr. Gaines are some of my biggest role models, and they have been mentors to me throughout my academic career in nutrition at Cornell. Seeing them in person at this market made me smile so big. It was so incredible to have so many loving faces around me, and I felt so grateful that the job I am doing is serving the community while also bringing me so much joy and connection.

Can’t wait to start this next week strong with three markets and some time in the kitchen. I will write about how it all goes next week. Until then, happy eating!

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