A weekday evening spinoff of the popular Saturday Cortez Farmers Market is making its return this July, and in conjunction, a new initiative is giving Cortez soup kitchens access to the Evening Market's locally grown goods.
Gretchen Gronke, a Montezuma County community health organizer, farmers market planner and market coordinator of the new Fresh Food Link program, said the idea was born out of her observation that locally sourced produce is often out of reach for the economically disadvantaged and the organizations that feed them, such as food banks and soup kitchens.
"I have a background in agriculture and am really passionate about local food and work as a community health organizer," said Gronke. "I've been thinking and working on ways to bridge that gap to make sure that local food grown in Montezuma County stays in Montezuma County and reaches the residents who don't have easy access to local foods."
Gronke worked on a project last year that entailed rounding up fresh produce from growers in Mancos and to donate to local soup kitchens. The effort netted about 4,000 pounds of produce for Montezuma County organizations, and she said the responses she heard from them was that more fresh produce is always desired.
While Gronke is grateful for the generosity of the local farming community when need arises, she says that a huge component of the Fresh Food Link program is to make sure those growers are getting compensated.
As part of the program, coupons will be made and distributed to the four soup kitchens in Montezuma County: Hope's Kitchen, Grace's Kitchen, Cortez Family Worship Center, and the Good Samaritan Center. The coupons will allow them to shop the market for free, and the $2,000 grant funding will be distributed among Evening Farmer's Market vendors accepting those coupons.
"We want to channel some funding directly to the farmers and food straight back to the organizations that are serving folks on a regular basis," she said.
Larry Gessner, manager of one of the four Cortez soup kitchens participating in the Fresh Food Link program, echoes those sentiments. The summer timing of the program also works well because kitchen staff can freeze and store items for fall and winter use.
"Having fresh foods, of any sort, is always a blessing at the kitchen," said Gessner. "Summers are great because so many in the community support Hope's Kitchen with their excess, whether it be a farmer/rancher or just a local gardener. Without these kind and thoughtful folks, we would be hard-pressed to continue operation."
Liliana and Stuart Hanold, of Cortez Family Worship Center, added that the Fresh Food Link program will help the soup kitchen stretch out supplies while providing healthy variety for about 200 people they serve every two weeks through the center's food distribution program and free community dinners.
"The fresh food does three very significant things: It connects the people with local produce grown especially to share through our local soup kitchen, food distribution programs for those in need. It bolsters the donations we do get, so there is more to give out which helps more people. The fresh food gives people a chance to have some fresh, locally grown, healthy food. From locals for locals. People from Montezuma County helping those less fortunate in Montezuma County that's not from the government," said Liliana Hanold.
As grants become harder for nonprofits to obtain, Gronke hopes to eventually have some sort of creative funding mechanism in place to sustain the economics and ensure that farmers get paid.
"We have a lot of creative work to do with bridging that financial gap. Grant funding isn't a permanent solution, but it's a great start to get the program rolling."
The Cortez Evening Farmers Market is a project of the Four Corners chapter of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and was born out of a desire to reach out to more people in the community who might not be able to make it to the Saturday market, she said.
The Evening Farmers Market starts it second annual run the first Tuesday of every month, July through October, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cortez City Park. The market features live music, in addition to the variety of local produce, art and food vendors.
For more information on becoming a vendor, contact Gretchen Gronke at 509-830-4380.