In our market’s 3 + years of existence one of the things we treasure the most is the many exhilarating conversations we have every market day. The vendors and customers of Sweetwater are a wonderfully diverse group and we all like to talk – about food, politics, you name it! The problem is that so many conversations go unfinished because most importantly we are a marketplace and need to conduct business. So, this blog is an attempt to have those longer conversations about our local food system and all the things that go with it.
So let’s start this first conversation off with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Sweetwater Local Foods Market has been asked by the ROTHBURY Festivalpromoters to bring the whole market to the Festival, and we have agreed! The bad news is that we can’t be in two places at once, and have decided to close our regular market on Saturday, July 5th.
The opportunities, both in terms of advancing the cause of organic agriculture and the chance for our vendors to have an extra financial windfall in the summer were just too great to pass up. We’ve posted the Press Release for the event below. We hope many of you might be attending the festival; if so be sure to look us up!
In the meantime, please let me know what you would like to talk about here – this blog is for you too!
For good food,
Diana Jancek
Market Manager
PRESS RELEASE
ROTHBURY Music Festival
July 3-6th – to Feature
Local Farmers Market to Promote Green Thinking Among Music Fans.
Billed as a New American Celebration, the ROTHBURY Music Festival, to be held at Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, MI over the 4th of July weekend, will offer attendees the opportunity to taste the “healthy, humane, homegrown” food of the farmers of the Sweetwater Local Foods Market. The Sweetwater Local Foods Market in Muskegon is Michigan’s first farmers market to exclusively sell local fruits and vegetables raised using organic farming practices and meat, eggs, and cheese from humanely raised animals.
“We were thrilled to learn back in March that festival promoters were seeking an ‘organic farmers market’ for their festival,” said Sweetwater Market Manager Diana Jancek. “After our initial call they immediately offered us the opportunity to bring our market and its farmers into the festival. Their invitation highlights the fact that organic farming is becoming more accepted and the food our farmers grow is becoming more appreciated and in demand.”
Sweetwater farmers will offer festival goers a range of fresh vegetables, meat and cheese packaged as snacks, baked goods, and other locally grown items in a farmers market that will operate from 11am to 6pm each day of the festival.
“Many of our vendors have prepared unique items especially for the Festival,” said Jancek. “I think people will experience both great food and great music this weekend – all the while supporting a green, sustainable food system.”
The ROTHBURY Festival is the first in Michigan to consciously promote an ecologically intelligent approach to large music events. All eating utensils, bags, and other wrapping will be made from compostable materials like corn-based plastic. The festival is also sponsoring an Eco-ThinkTank of presentations, each day, on how to solve some of the important ecological challenges before us.