The hospital-based farmers’ markets at more than 25 Kaiser Permanente facilities have shown that a market can be successful in a setting where a few thousand people gather on a daily basis.
We have learned that the markets have to be the right size for the number of people on-site and that the market is best located next to the normal foot traffic pathways. It’s hard to walk by a fresh peach in August or a bunch of asparagus in March without stopping to shop.
What would happen if we tried this at a non-hospital worksite? Kaiser Permanente has partnered with the Fremont Farmers’ Market Association to bring a farmers’ market to New United Motors in Fremont, California.
On the third birthday of the first hospital-based market, May 12th, the first auto factory farmers’ market will spring to life. NUMMI makes Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks and there are 4,300 employees on the day and swing shifts.
We hope that having the market next to the main entrance to their worksite will entice the workers to shop there. They, too, will be able to meet the people who grow their food.
While I am reticent to recommend gadgets, I have found the mini-food processor I got as a gift to be very useful for this recipe, for grinding cumin seeds and making small amounts of breadcrumbs, etc.