As spring begins to grow so does the need for fresh produce within the Tyler area. Luckily the Rose City Farmers Market provides individuals with the opportunity to shop for produce and additional items locally.
The Rose City Farmers Market will kick off its annual spring season April 9. The market will be held from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday starting April 9 and will not close until November. The farmers market is located at 221 S. Broadway Ave Tyler, TX 75702 in Downtown.
The farmers market provides a group of hand selected local vendors the opportunity to sell locally grown, owned and created merchandise. In addition to providing local farmers and craftsmen the opportunity to sell their products, the farmers market also gives Tyler residents the chance to buy and support locally owned businesses.
According to foodcoalition.org, the mission behind the Rose City Farmers Market is to “connect people with sources of locally grown foods and advocate eating locally for the health of our environment, community, culture, and economy. Through advocacy, organizing and education, we work toward a sustainable local food system that meets the needs of both producers and consumers.”
The Rose City Farmers Market offers a variety of products such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, pasture-raised beef, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey, free-range and non-GMO eggs, goat cheeses, cut flowers, artisanal foods for example breads and pastries, jams, jellies, granola, East Texas fruit wines, Central Texas olive oil and handcrafted art.
How long each vendor stays at the farmers market is determined by the time of year and what products they sell.
“It depends on the week, but usually, there’s probably five or six people who are always going to be there no matter what. But they usually post the day the morning of who’s going to be there, they post a lot of that on their Facebook,” said Lisa Horlander, a volunteer at Rose City Farmers Market. Those interested in learning more about vendors can search Rose City Farmers Market on Facebook to locate the markets official Facebook page.
To ensure everyone gets the opportunity to indulge in fresh produce and food, the farmers market accepts WIC. “They team up with WIC and WIC shows. So that’s one thing that I think is the greatest thing that they have is if you’re on WIC, you can go to the WIC booth, you can talk to them, they get your vouchers, go straight over and buy some products with vouchers, which is an awesome thing,” Horlander said.
Individuals using WIC can receive up to “$30 in free produce for each eligible WIC participant” according to foodcoalition.org/visit/.
The National WIC Association states that WIC is a, “special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. A short-term intervention program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behaviors in a targeted, high-risk population.”
In addition to WIC vouchers, patrons planning on using credit cards can visit the welcome table at the farmers market to receive tokens for the amount they wish to purchase.
Furthermore, the Rose City Farmers Market also offers customers the opportunity to volunteer each Saturday. Volunteers will have a variety of responsibilities.
“The volunteers can run the welcome booth and answer questions. So the volunteers, they’ll help set up and take down,” Horlander said. “Sometimes the vendors will need someone to watch their booth while they go to the bathroom, so volunteers sometimes help with that, too. So there’s a lot of different things.”
For anyone interested in volunteering or selling their homemade products, contact rosecityfarmersmarket@gmail.com.
