Fair Oaks has its own Farmer's Market, and it's a special one, with a very special twist. I stopped by Sunday as they were closing up, but managed to snag some organic peaches, nectarines, a melon, onions, Chinese long beans, Thai basil, and Mom bought some flowers. They were all grown locally by Certified Farmers. Awesome!
But the best part is who is sponsoring it. I chatted with Don and Marie Hall, founders of BeMoneySmartUSA, a nonprofit which teaches financial literacy to teens and develops entrepreneurship skills in our emerging adults (any kid who learns to spell e-n-t-r-e-p-r-e-n-e-u-r-s-h-i-p is already one step ahead of the game, if you ask me). They offer business and finance classes throughout the year, and started the market, now in its 3rd week, as a teaching model and fundraiser for their non-profit. I am imagining they raise money through space rental for the farmers, plus their Rent-A-Teen program, available to work for the farmers on market day. How could you not want to support such a worthy cause?
The other best part (one of many) is the size. It's fairly small, tucked into the corner of the shopping center, which makes it easy. You still have choices of vendors, but you can get in and out really quickly. And how many choices of sweet, ripe, HUGE, organic peaches, do you need? In coming weeks, they will add meat, cheese, and eggs, too.
And convenient??? Parking is RIGHT there. So is the Do-Nut shop, in case all that organic produce cannot quell the need for some quality carbs.
They will be there every Sunday, from 9 - 1, through November 7th, then start up again in early Spring.
If you want to know if this works, check out the student videos on the sidebar of their BeMoneySmartTeens website. Notice Alexandra saying "In the business class I learned how I can start my own business and be independently stable". Don't we all want that for our teens?? Love that girl already.
WOW... these kids will make it in this world. So go buy an organic tomato and teach a kid about financial literacy.
copyright 2010, Sally Dunbar
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