Farmers Markets Fresh, festive fun for Kids

Token program invites young shoppers to ‘buy’ their own produce //Photos by Elizabeth Granger

Big carrots are big stars with little shoppers at local farmers markets.

Six-year-old Violet Smedley of Grand Haven tendered proof as she clutched a huge carrot, and a not-so-huge cucumber, that she’d bought with her Power of Produce tokens.

The national program’s mission – “to empower kids to make healthy choices and have fun while doing it” – seems to be working. Along the lakeshore, at farmers markets in Grand Haven, Holland and Muskegon.

Kids enrolled in the program get free tokens to spend at the market.

“Kids run up to our table and ask, ‘Can I get my tokens today?’ said Megan Tobin, market manager at the Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce. “When we say ‘yes,’ they start jumping up and down with excitement.”

he continued, “The kids love the Power of Produce program because they get to choose how to spend their own money. It encourages healthy eating habits and independent spending.”

The program, hosted by local chambers of commerce, is funded through sponsorships and donations. “We’ll run our program as long as we have funding,” Tobin said. Kids do not have to be local residents, but they do have to register at the POP table at the market.

Vendors prepare items specifically for the program. “We do a variety of fruits and vegetables,” said Jodi Diemer of Diemer’s Farm & Greenhouse in Holland. “If they get a cup with four different fruits in it and they’ve never tried one of them, it’s a good opportunity to try.” And she added, “They love the giant carrots.”

FARMERS MARKETS
Grand Haven
Wednesdays & Saturdays,
8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Chinook Pier
Holland
Wednesdays & Saturdays,
8 a.m.–2 p.m., 150 W 8th St.
Muskegon
Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays
8 a.m.–2 p.m. at 242 W. Western Ave