Our mission is for all people in our community to become educated
about and benefit from locally grown food. Our aim is to help all walks
of life, from the farmers to the local community members to those less fortunate
who might need assistance through the local food bank.
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Farm Show and Tell at Edible Earthscapes
Posted by Michele McKinley about 2 days ago
Enjoy a bit of Farm Show and Tell with an Asian flair on Monday, August 2, 6-8:00 pm, at vendor
Edible Earthscape's farm. Farmers Jason and Haruka Oatis specialize in Asian vegetables and other specialty crops. Visitors will see:
- Greenhouse production with in-ground crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, turmeric, ginger and other crops.
- Vegetables, herbs, and flowers, including many Asian varieties.
- One-acre rice plot. Jason and Haruka are growing a Japanese variety of rice without any synthetic inputs or sustained flooding/irrigation through the season.
This event is part of a series organized by the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension to educate farmers and consumers about sustainable agriculture and to increase awareness and understanding of our local food system.
Parking is very limited, so please carpool from Chatham Marketplace in Pittsboro at 5:45. Click here for directions to Chatham Marketplace, and email Debbie Roos for more information about this event.
Sunny Solutions & Savings: Solar Energy
Posted by Michele McKinley about 3 days ago
There was so much interest in sustainable energy solutions when
Yes! Solar Solutions of the Triangle joined us in the Education Tent last week, that we decided to talk with Kathy Miller, vice president of the Cary company, to learn more.
Yes! Solar Solutions has shifted its focus in the last year to a more holistic look at sources of energy use and how you can conserve, Kathy said. So Yes! offers a range of energy assessment tools, where an energy specialist will walk through your home to advise you on simple ways to cut back on your spending and conserve energy. For instance, he may suggest adding a hot water heater blanket, sealing ducts, adding weather stripping to windows, or installing remote control turn-offs for your home electronics. These changes can mean real savings.
The company also can talk with you about how photovoltaic solar panels and solar thermal hot water can help you save some green while you go green. "When people want to re-landscape their whole yard, but don't want to spend a ton of money at once on it, they have a landscape architect come in and provide them with a plan they can put to use over time," Kathy said. "That's similar to our goal. Let's see what we can do to help you be more efficient and put a plan together to make it happen."
Rebates, Tax Credits and Cutting Energy Bills
Kathy said that there are rebates out there for all sorts of efficiencies. For instance, new windows, improved heating and air conditioning, or insulation. Yes! Solar Solutions keeps track of rebates to help its customers defray the cost of sustainable energy by cashing in on these rebates.
Kathy also pointed out that there is a 30% federal tax credit for solar energy, in addition to a 35% tax credit for North Carolina residents. "Say you spend $10,000 on a solar system; you can take $3,000 off your federal tax bill, plus 35% off your state tax bill. So a $10,000 system may end of costing you only about $3,500," Kathy said.
In terms of return on your monthly utility bill, it depends on your home and your energy usage, Kathy said. Yes! Solar Solutions has a customer renting a 108-year-old home in downtown Cary. "The first eight months they lived there, the electric bills were so high," Kathy said. "But now their bills are almost half of what they were, just since they installed the solar thermal hot water heater."
Savings in a newer home, by comparison, will vary depending on the home and usage pattern. Kathy also noted that additional savings come when you are paid by the utility for the electricity you produce with solar power. Wow--a utility will pay me? Now that's intriguing... Kathy said that the company receives several hundred dollars each month for the electricity produced at its warehouse, which has the photovoltaic solar panels on the roof.
Solar Schooling
Yes! Solar Solutions offers free educational seminars at its store, with the next one on August 21. It is a layman's overview of the technology behind solar energy, as well as installation--a great way to get schooled on solar energy. While it's free, Yes! does ask that people sign up in advance because space is limited.
Kathy and her husband Stew, who is president of the company, feel that what they are doing at Yes! is important for the next generation. "This a big piece to the puzzle of solving our fossil fuel problem. Using fossil fuels the way we are now is just not going to be sustainable for the next 100 years." Check out the
web site or stop by the
store to learn more about how you can improve energy efficiency in your home and harness the power of sunny North Carolina skies.
Fall Farm Tour: Save the Date!
Posted by Michele McKinley about 10 days ago
The 5th Annual Eastern Triangle Farm Tour will be held September 18 and 19 from 1 to 5 PM on both days.
The brochure with details is coming soon, but the map is available now. There will be 24 sites on this Fall’s tour, including eight new farms and two market vendors: Edible Earthscapes and Spain Farm. An educational event and fundraiser for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA), the tour showcases farms with sustainable and humane livestock operations, plus urban mini-farms and community farms so you can see how much can be grown on small plots of land, even in the city!
Load up a car with your friends and family, choose the farms you will visit, and enjoy the countryside! The tour is self-guided, and farms and sites are located throughout the Eastern Triangle in Wake, Durham, Franklin and Chatham counties. Visit any farm in any order. Many farms also will have foods for sale.
Foodies, locavores and everyone looking for a great activity for the family is invited! Visit CFSA’s site for more information and to purchase your “button” for $25 for access to all the farms! You can also visit one farm for $10.
Volunteer one afternoon, and you’ll be able to attend the whole tour for free! Get an inside look at the farms,help out, have lots of fun and get a free t-shirt! Contact Fred Broadwell to volunteer.
Vote Today for Western Wake Farmers’ Market!
Posted by Michele McKinley about 11 days ago
Do you have 1 minute? If so, we need your help to win in the America's Favorite Farmers Market contest! Please click here, then click the Vote button--it's that easy. (Our market is already selected at this page, so you don't need to enter it in. Just click "Vote".)
The America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest (a project of the American Farmland Trust) is designed to raise national awareness about the importance of supporting fresh food from local farms and farmers. Please show your love for our market with your vote!
Our market could win the title, along with a supply of No Farms No Food® tote bags for our market shoppers and other other prizes, including free printing services from igreenprint and free graphic design services from Virginia-based design firm, SQN Communications. With these services, we could let even more folks know about our market and help support local farmers!
EBT, Debit and Credit Cards Now Accepted at WWFM!
Posted by Michele McKinley about 1 months ago
On Sat., June 26, we officially launched our acceptance of EBT (former paper food stamps), debit and credit cards at the market! WWFM is the FIRST farmers’ market in Wake County participating in the 21st Century Farmers’ Market program through the Leaflight Foundation to make this possible. We’re thrilled to lead the way in Wake County so that everyone has access to local, healthy foods. It's central to our mission of education and preventing hunger.
Swipe Your Card, Get Tokens
Using an EBT, debit or credit card at the market is easy, quick and convenient.
- Go to the Information Tent to swipe your card.
- Receive $5 tokens if you use a debit or credit card, or $1 tokens if you use an EBT card.
- Shop at vendors' tents where signs indicate participation in the program.
If you have questions about the tokens, this short guide will help.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do all vendors accept the tokens?
- Most vendors are eagerly participating in the program.
- Why do the tokens look different?
- Tokens with the Western Wake Farmers' Market logo on them are $5 tokens (purchased with debit or credit cards) and can be used just like a $5 bill. You can purchase anything at market at participating vendors' with these tokens. Vendors will you give cash change for tokens.
Tokens with the 21st Century Farmers Market logo on them are the $1 tokens (purchased with EBT cards). These may used to purchase most food items at market. By law, no cash change is given for $1 tokens. - Do tokens expire?
- Nope... If you have unused tokens, you may keep them for another market day, or you may turn them in at the Information Tent and have your card swiped again to credit that amount to your account.
Market Match
An amazing group of partners in Wake County has helped us to publicize this new capability. Advocates for Health in Action has been instrumental in letting service-providers and care-givers know about this opportunity for EBT cardholders at WWFM.
AHA also helped the market receive grant funding from the John Rex Endowment, which enables the market to offer a Market Match to EBT customers. EBT shoppers may swipe their card for up to $10 per market visit, and receive $10 in free tokens through the grant, while funding lasts. $10 on EBT card + $10 free market match = $20 for local, healthy food!
Wake County Human Services (WCHS) is another key partner in this effort to let EBT cardholders know about the Western Wake Farmers' Market, the program and the Market Match. WCHS invited the market to speak to case workers who interview and sign up folks for EBT cards, and also to share information about the program, the market and some samples of food with market ingredients to new EBT clients at the WCHS building in Raleigh.
Both AHA and WCHS have printed fliers in English and Spanish to help us let eligible people in Wake County know about the program.
Road Trip: Feasting on Local Foods
Posted by Michele McKinley about 1 months ago
We ran this story last summer, but we think it bears repeating! If you have a favorite restaurant serving local foods out of state or across North Carolina, let us know and we'll share it! Write to info@WesternWakeFarmersMarket.org.
A few years ago, Food Network aired a fun series called “Feasting on Asphalt.” Host Alton Brown and his crew rode across the United States on motorcycles in search of great roadside food made by regular people. He talked with restaurant owners and patrons along the way, and his crew made it a point to find local specialties in each area they drove through.
With summer vacations just around the corner, we might all want to think about eating local while "feasting on asphalt." Whether you’re taking a weekend road trip or heading across the country for your vacation, you can find markets and restaurants with fresh, healthy, local ingredients along the way and at your vacation spot.
Through the Eat Well Guide, you can enter a zip code or city/state, and then narrow your search for farmers' markets and restaurants, for instance, and the search engine will return a list of all the markets there or restaurants serving locally grown and crafted foods. It goes beyond this too, with co-ops, butchers, bakers, stores and more that sell local products. There's also a trip planning feature, but it seems to be on vacation itself right now...the site says it will be back soon.
There are other online resources for finding local food too. Check out Local Harvest and enter a zip code or city/state to find local farms, restaurants, grocers and more. You’ll not only eat well on the road, but you’ll be supporting farmers and the local economy wherever you are. Happy travels!
To Market, to Market: What Can You Buy?
Posted by Michele McKinley about 1 months ago
What a great time to be shopping the farmers' market! Take a quick look at a few of the great foods available at the market this past weekend: eggplant, new potatoes, green beans, squash varieties, delicous peaches, greens and even live blue crabs!
Blackberries and blueberries are in, plus meats, eggs, cheese, coffee, wine, breads, artisan desserts and so much more are always available. Corn is even in … those farmers always have a few surprises at market for us!
Where's the Flavor?
Posted by Michele McKinley about 2 months ago
So in 2010, the question isn't "Where's the Beef?" but rather "Where's the Flavor?" according to a recent
Wall Street Journal article. Author Mark Schatzker comments on how USDA rules, mass production and efficiency have compromised the taste of beef over the years. He points out that "cheap beef doesn't taste good. What we've gained in yield and efficiency, we've lost in flavor," he says.
All is not lost, according to Schatzker, however. He says that you can find an excellent steak by "combing the farmers' markets." He also notes that beef from grass-fed cows is healthier for you, as it has "less saturated fat, more heart-healthy omega-3s and is denser in vitamins and antioxidants."