Ellington Farmers' Market Seeking Market Partners for 2016 Season

It’s that time of year again….time to prepare for our May 7th opening of our town’s most popular outdoor weekly event, Ellington Farmers’ Market. We again enjoyed a tremendous growth in attendance last season with a large number of first-time patrons who are now embracing “clean” eating and have made a commitment to support local food growers and entrepreneurs.

One of our market goals last year was to expand our popular Power of Produce program for the children of our community. Many hands-on events were held that encouraged young people to understand how food is grown and to participate in their own cultivation of healthy eating habits. We handed out over $1,700.00 worth of $2.00 tokens so children could sample our weekly offerings and then purchase a fruit or vegetable of their choice throughout the market season. We hope to continue to expand this valuable program during this year’s outdoor season.

Another of our major goals last season was to distribute matching dollar-value tokens to our SNAP patrons who frequent the market in search of better food choices. The State of Connecticut’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program encourages those receiving food stamps to frequent farmers’ markets where they can use their benefits to purchase healthy foods. For every dollar in SNAP tokens they purchased, we matched those dollars, thus doubling their purchasing power. We matched over $1,200.00 worth of SNAP benefits and hope to double that amount this summer so those who are on state assistance can take advantage of this extremely healthful and beneficial way to enhance their health and well-being. We noticed that as the season progressed, more people learned about our matching program and participated in purchasing fresh, locally grown food.

Every Saturday our patrons visited with friends and neighbors, enjoyed top-notch musical entertainment, purchased healthy food and specialty items and took part in special theme events including our hilarious Zucchini 500 drag race and our always-popular Halloween Pet Parade. Many of our events are becoming town-supported traditions. Our senior citizens especially look forward to the ritual of sipping a steaming hot cup of coffee while they set out their lawn chairs for each Saturday’s musical entertainment.

We would like to continue to be known as the “place to be” on Saturday mornings from May to October. As an EFM MARKET PARTNER you can share in the customer excitement and advertising that our 2016 market events will generate.

Please consider participating in creating a vibrant Ellington economy by becoming a Market Partner. Share our Market Saturdays with us!

For a $150.00 annual contribution your business will benefit in the following ways:
• Your business name will be included on a market banner to be displayed at the market each week.
• Market Partners will be recognized on our website and a hot link will be provided to your website.
• Market Partners can choose to be recognized as co-sponsors of one market event per season. If you wish, space will be made available for you to promote your business at the market on that day.

Your response by April 15 will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration.

Download and print an application to become a market partner

Contact the Market Master at ellingtonfarmersmarket@gmail.com