Behind The Scenes News

Opening Day is May 14th!

With ONE month to go, things are shaping up behind the scenes to make this season, the 4th for our community market, a terrific success. We have a few new things in the works to tell you about... so here's your sneak peak!

Our New Market Manager!

Meet Carley Jane Stanton. She is our market manager for the 2014 season. Passionate about her city, she is a strong advocate of eating local, shopping at farmers'  markets and studying and promoting urban community gardens. As a result, she is fast becoming a fixture on Edmonton's food scene and is eager to help us continue to build our market into the vibrant, successful scene you've come to know and love.

Our Sprouts Kids' Club

More details will follow closer to opening day, but we are really excited about our new kids' program, called Sprouts, sponsored by Dr. Darcy Dietz of Towne Square Orthodontics. 


Designed to help children, ages 4 through 12, see and experience the value of healthy and nutritious eating, it will help your kids develop great habits around shopping local and eating fresh, seasonal and local fruits and vegetables. 

You know how hard it is to get your kids to embrace healthy eating with so many cartoon-decorated products available at the local grocery store shelves, right at their height! This program is designed to empower kids to make their own choices about healthy foods, to get them to try new fruit and vegetables and experiment with healthy eating., and to get them to create a habit of shopping local and eating nutritionally mindfully. Parents, we've got your back!

As this is a pilot program, we are opening it up to a limited number of children. Be sure to stop by with your children at our SWEFM tent on opening day to sign up! 

Plant A Row, Grow A Row for Edmonton's Food Bank

Come out opening day, May 14, to learn about Plant A Row, Grow A Row and our partnership with Edmonton's Food Bank. This is your chance to help put good quality, nutrient dense fresh foods into the cold storage rooms of the food bank. They will be onsite collecting food, toiletry and cash donations, along with any plastic shopping bags or empty egg cartons that you may have. momstown will be on hand doing a free, garden themed kids' craft to help get you started, so be sure to stop by our Community Tent to participate!

What's at the Market This Year?

Be prepared to see the food trucks you love (old favourites and some new faces) and the concessions that have those tasty indulgences that tempt market goers, young and old!

There will be entertaining buskers (from balloon making to face painting to music).

We will have lots of terrific food vendors (from fresh vegetables and fruits through to take-away meals).

Each week you will see beautiful artisanal goods (from jewellery through to artisanal soaps and handcrafted home decor items). And in the spring, there will be beautiful hanging baskets and food plants ready for your garden plots and pots.

With more and more people wanting to see us develop the food side of our market, this season you will see baked goods like you wouldn't believe (from breads and cookies through to sweet pastries and cupcakes).

On site you will find unique food treats, from gourmet marshmallows and treats-to-go-on-a-stick through to decadent chocolate bars and truffles. 

There will even be locally roasted coffee this year! To drink, you will also find some other unique offerings, like healthy and fresh pressed-juice sodas, fresh squeezed lemonade and the ever-popular Italian sodas.

Lastly, we are really developing our market to accommodate the appetites of people with food allergies, specific dietary preferences, and food intolerances. Expect to see vegetarian, vegan, low-fat, nut-free, gluten-free and many ethnic food choices available.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign!

For those friends and neighbours who have said, "we didn't know there was a farmers' market here!" there will be no missing it this season! We have invested in lots of new signage to put up on site and in the surrounding neighbourhoods. If you would like to be a Sign Angel, please let us know and we'll give you a sign to put out every Wednesday during market season. We could really use your help!

The countdown is on to opening day... see you at the market!

Visit our website at http://www.swefm.ca
Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/swefm.ca
Follow this link to read up on the profiles of trucks at our market: http://www.swefm.ca/food-trucks--concessions.html
Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee