Organizers of the Nov. 25th Harvest Market, in Atlantic, report the Cass County Local Food Policy Council, this week, voted to provide $200 to the Harvest Market which will be held the Monday before Thanksgiving, (November 25th), from 3:00 to 7:00 PM at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic. The funding is for produce coupons which will be handed out to the first 50 visitors to the Harvest Market with the goal of encouraging market customers to include locally-grown produce in their holiday meals.

The funding will also be used to promote including local produce holiday meals. Harvest Market Manager Brigham Hoegh said “Many people don’t realize that fresh locally-grown produce is available around here in late November. Iowa people are pretty well aware that we have local produce available during the summer, but many don’t realize many of our local growers have tunnels which allow them to continue to harvest crops, such as leafy greens and carrots, after our temperatures drop. The goal of this grant is to encourage people to make space on their tables for these delicious locally-grown vegetables, in addition to more traditional fall crops, such as squash and sweet potatoes.”

Earlier this year the Cass County Local Food Policy Council also granted $1300 to Produce in the Park, the parent organization of Harvest Market, to encourage area residents to visit Cass County farmers’ markets and to eat locally-grown produce. Most of that funding was used for coupons redeemable for produce, and the rest was used to reimburse Guest Chefs at Produce in the Park for purchasing produce ingredients from local growers. The grant initially included funding to provide free produce snacks to kids visiting Produce in the Park, but a Farm to School grant was later awarded to the market for that specific purpose.

“This year the Cass County Local Food Policy Council specified that the coupons could only be redeemed for fruits and vegetables,” explained Hoegh. “We gave produce coupons to both children and adults, but we could easily observe the shift towards a focus on produce in children. We gave each child a $1 produce coupon just for tasting the -vegetable of the week.’ We also gave a $1 produce coupon to any kid who completed the weekly scavenger hunt at the park.” These scavenger hunts sent kids to visit the Guest Chef for that week, had them ask vendors about particular vegetables they offered for sale, and ended by asking kids what they planned to buy with their produce coupons. “After a kid tried a produce snack, did a scavenger hunt oriented around produce, and walked away with $2 in coupons for produce, they were really thinking about produce,” said Hoegh. She notes that volunteers, such as Cass County Local Food Policy Council chair Jake Theis, were very helpful in handing out the sample produce and talking with the kids.

Hoegh and Theis agree the best moments of the summer included comments from adults who couldn’t believe the children they had brought with them to the market had tried—and liked—a vegetable that was new to them. “The best moment had to be when Sue [Irvin’s] grandkid, who wouldn’t eat tomatoes told sue that he liked them. Now Sue is the produce grower who runs Sue’s Country Garden, a big vegetable vendor at Produce in the Park, and a person who does a great job of getting kids to try different vegetables. However, it was Jake who convinced her grandson to try tomatoes. We all thought that was pretty funny,” laughed Hoegh.

Hoegh and the Cass County Local Food Policy Council are now aiming to shift adults’ mindsets on including local produce in their Thanksgiving meals. The Cass County Local Food Policy Council encourages you to visit Harvest Market November 25, and reminds you that locally produced produce can become your favorite dishes at your holiday meals.