Ariel Allen is the community engagement coordinator for Nourish Knoxville, the nonprofit that manages several Farmers’ Markets, including the one at Market Square.
Allen began by asking Rotarians to close their eyes and recall their favorite food memory.
“It could be digging up a carrot in a garden, or a special meal, or getting that first strawberry of the season,” said Allen. “Those memories are so powerful, and they are important to me. There’s one I’ll share of gardening at Beardsley Farm. We were harvesting asparagus. You may know it takes three years to go from seed to harvest. So the joy of eating that raw asparagus gave me a moment I won’t forget.”
Allen ran through the history of Nourish Knoxville, starting 20 years ago, when Charlotte Tolley, NK’s CEO, was working at Tomato Head on Market Square, which hadn’t quite begun its renaissance.
Allen reminded us that Market Square used to house the Market House, which burned. The land was then donated to the city by the Mabry-Hazen family with the stipulation that it always remain an open-air market. At a certain point the city was going to build a parking garage there, when the feisty heiress Evelyn Hazen said, “No way,” and the public area was saved.
Tolley started the Farmers’ Market on Market Square in 2004. In 2009 it became the first Farmers’ Market in the state to take food stamps, also called SNAP benefits. In 2013 Nourish Knoxville was incorporated as a nonprofit and has since expanded its purview into four key areas, all with the goal of cultivating healthy communities by supporting relationships between local farmers, producers, and the public.
Their programs fall into four main areas:
- The Farmers Markets
- Incentive Programs
- Food Recovery
- Educational Resources.
Last year 140,000 people visited the Market Square Farmers’ Market, and another 31,000 visited the ones at New Harvest, on the former site of East Towne Mall, and the Winter Farmers’ Markets. In all NK hosted 96 markets last year with 160 small businesses represented.
One of the first vendors was David Gwin of VG’s Bakery, who has been coming ever since for all 20 years.
NK’s Incentive Programs are geared to help kids and others buy fresh foods.
- Nourish Kids started in 2015 to encourage kids to try new foods and empower them to make their own choices. After taking part in activities for children at farmers’ markets, all participating children receiving $5 in Produce Bucks to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables and food-producing plants. Even during strawberry season, one young girl bought a head of cabbage and decided she liked cabbage.
- In seven counties, 2,100 kids participated last year and spent $20,631 on fresh fruits and vegetables.
- “Kids like spending their own money,” said Allen.
- The Kids Club includes field trips. “It’s a brain jolt for a kid to see a potato pulled out of the ground,” said Allen.
- Nourish Moves: A walking program for ages 2+ that gives you Produce Bucks for steps taken at the market.
- Lots of partner organizations helped with this. Some $14,500 in Produce Bucks were spent on fresh produce by 1,560 people last year for a total of 8 million steps.
- SNAP: (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) acceptance at farmers’ markets helps families gain access to fresh foods, assisted even more by Double Up TN Food Bucks: SNAP-doubling program at farmers’ markets.
- Veggie Valet: A valet service to hold your vegetables or any purchase. After you have finished shopping, drop your purchases at the booth for our volunteers to watch while you get your vehicle.
Nourish Community is a delivery program, done in partnership with Beardsley Farm, to housing complexes. “At one point we delivered butternut squash, and we realized nobody know how to cook it, so we had to teach everyone what to do with it,” said Allen. [N.B., you have to cook it a long time.]
The East Tennessee Food Guide is a printed publication and a website showing where to get fresh farm produce. “It’s the only one of its kind in our region,” said Allen.