Community Spirit Remains Strong in Mount Horeb as they Find Ways to Continue Farm to Food Access Efforts

By Allison Crook, WFU Region 2 Membership Coordinator

Later in season at the Mount Horeb Farmers Market, you will find Rami of Atoms to Apples, selling his apples and pears.

While volunteerism continues to decline on a national scale, community members in Mount Horeb are coming together and donating their time to address the timely and unprecedented needs of this moment.  Most recently, the Mount Horeb Farmers Market (MHFM) has partnered with Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to launch a program aimed at filling in some of the gaps left when the USDA abruptly announced the cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA).  In this moment of uncertainty, we need creative, community-driven solutions, and this project provides one such example.   

In mid March, with the announcement of the termination of LFPA, WFU farmer Rami Aburomia (Atoms to Apples) started looking for additional opportunities to keep farm-to-food access work moving forward in his community: paying producers fair prices for their products, and providing fresh, local food to community members experiencing food insecurity.  As a member of the volunteer-run MHFM Board and LFPA producer, it was a natural fit to connect the market with NHN, the local food pantry.  He applied for a Partners in Equity (PIE) Food Project Grant through Dane County, and was successfully funded.  Upon receiving the funds, Rami notes, “We are excited that this grant will further strengthen the ties between the MHFM and NHN.   The same dollar benefits local producers (by increasing their sales) and the users of our locally run pantry (by increasing access for quality food)."

The grant is structured so that NHN receives $200 worth of “Market Bucks” each of the eighteen weeks of the market season, to be used with any vendor on any of their products.  The vendors then return their “Market Bucks” to the Market Manager in exchange for cash.  Ann Szalkowski, the NHN Food Co-Coordinator, organizes the program for NHN.  She approaches the market from two angles: to try and frequent as many vendors as possible, and to purchase food that the pantry would not normally have access to.  Ann shares, “Neighbors Helping Neighbors is fortunate to have a farm community that supports our neighbors in need.”  

Ann, with Neighbors Helping Neighbors, chats with vendor Pat Hager of Squashington Farm while shopping for the pantry.

Visiting the second market of the season, Rami is checking that vendors and the Market Manager understand how to use the Market Bucks.  Ann is training two NHN volunteers, Jack and David Mueller, on how to shop for the pantry.  The system is still new, but it has been enthusiastically embraced by all.  Eva Denny, co-owner of Kingfisher Farm says she “loves seeing the dollars circulating in the community.”  Sarah Leong, co-owner of Squashington Farm says “it is so nice to see these types of grants being funded that are prioritizing the people that need these financial cushions.”  At the end of the shopping experience, NHN heads to the pantry with a bounty including maple syrup, jam, pickled beets, hot sauce, and fresh strawberries.

While the dollars going to these vendors and food going to pantries are minimal in comparison to the LFPA, it is a small, but important step in the right direction.  In Mt. Horeb, the aspiration is that this work can continue and expand, leading to more wholesale accounts between farmers and food pantries.  They are also looking at donation-based models, where community members contribute to the overall “Market Bucks” funding pool. As communities adapt to the times, there is hope that more of these models can come together and create sustainable funding streams for farm to food access. WFU remains committed to advocating for renewed LFPA funding at both the state and federal levels, while celebrating the local innovation keeping this work alive.