Caitlin O’Reilly introduced our speaker, Nick Weith. Nick is originally from Arlington, Texas and moved to WNY in 2016 as part of America Corps Member teaching in Buffalo Public Schools. He completed a Business and Culinary Arts degree in Denver, Colorado at Johnson & Wales University. Nick taught in Buffalo for three years in special education, working with the Career and Tech Education-Horticulture Program. He then worked for Forestville Central Schools as a nutrition educator and Farm to School Coordination, eventually as the cafeteria manager working to bring locally grown and scratch cooked meals to the district. After a move to Ohio following the pandemic, Nick returned to the WNY area as Food Access Manager for Jamestown Public Market at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. For eighteen months Nick, as Manager of the Jamestown Public Market has enjoyed learning and assessing the many programs included under the “Jamestown Farmers Market.” Changes are on the horizon.
The mission statement for the Farmers’ Market is “to provide affordable access to fresh food grown by local farmers.” There are many programs offered. There are two primary focuses: (1) food access & people who want local access and (2) supporting the local agriculture economy. It is very important to support local farmers. The flagship program is the Saturday Farmers Market at St. Lukes, also throughout the winter. Saturdays are a day of bringing people together around fresh and prepared food. They have recently moved to a 25-week season. (Dennis Webster was an original member of Jamestown Farmers Market in the in 1960s.) There are themed weeks throughout summer and fall, partnering with local agencies, ie Lucy Fest, RTPI, etc. This year there will be musicians. Nick expressed the need for volunteers on Saturday mornings to set up tables and chairs to enable people to sit and enjoy their food together. One of the big advantages of the Market is their ability to process SNAP vouchers which is a cumbersome process; this helps the farmers. The Market also offers matching funds for the snap vouchers, up to $50.
They also have a Mobile Market; they purchase food from the market and travel to six sites a week. They travel to food deserts and work with organizations and, also, accept SNAP vouchers. Their goal is to serve high need areas and individuals. This year they are adding meat, eggs and bread to the Mobile Market.
There is also a CSA Program (Community Support of Agriculture) which allows people to purchase a supply of farmers freshest food, ie food box of vegetables, bread, meat, mushrooms, etc. It is paid for at the beginning of the season which allows farmers to get through the summer. There are still boxes available, along with recipes. There is also a community garden at the corner of 6th and Lakeview.
Nick was an excellent speaker and offered many details and opportunities for volunteering. Jamestown Farmers Market is an excellent resource and there is more information online if you are interested in hearing Nick’s entire presentation, which I recommend.
