ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
After what seemed like an extended winter, temperatures in Southwest Kansas are warming up, and spring is officially in the air.
The warming trend likewise brings more people outdoors, and with the calendar turning to May soon, outdoor activities will become more popular as well.
In Liberal for the past 11 years, one of those activities has been a farmers market hosted by the Liberal Area Coalition for Families, and the 12th year of the farmers market kicks off Saturday and will run every Saturday through September from 8 a.m. to noon at 1195 N. Kansas Ave.
Organizer Debra Huddleston has some of the usual vendors with food items like vegetables, chicken and eggs, as well as crafts and some new things for this year.
“I had a grant last year from K-State for a Food Fellow, which means an assistant at the market to try to promote SNAP,” she said referring to the USDA Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. “I got another grant this year, so I’ll be hiring someone for that.”
Huddleston was scheduled to have interviews for the Food Fellow position last week, and she also got a grant from the Kansas Food Action Network to help with other needs.
“I bought a generator, which will help some people who need to plug in a Crock-Pot or coffee pot or whatever,” she said.
Likewise, Huddleston said the farmers markets offers a wide variety of other items for people to buy.
“We’re going to have a vendor doing the tensile hair extensions this year,” she said. “That’ll be something different. There’s always a lot to see. It’s a nice little atmosphere. There’s things you can’t buy anywhere else and the fresh produce. I have two produce vendors who are going to be there the first day. That’s not always the case. They don’t always have anything to sell on the first day of the market, but evidently, it’s been a good year.”
A new logo has been designed for the LACF farmers market, and Huddleston said the event will get some additional publicity in May and June.
“We have Sound Digital Marketing coming to do a video on opening day which we will use for marketing,” she said. “We have two live radio station remotes scheduled.”
Huddleston said having a Food Fellow in place allows her to have activities for kids and promote the use of SNAP benefits.
“We also have double up food bucks again this year,” she said. “If someone brings their EBT card to the market and uses it to get tokens to purchase SNAP-eligible items, they get an equal amount up to $25 in double up food bucks to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. They’re doubling their money there. They use their EBT card. They’ve given them tokens. They spend those tokens at the vendor.”
Liberal’s Southwest Fitness & Racquetball will also offer yoga classes every other Saturday starting Saturday at the farmers market, and Huddleston said free yoga mats will be given to the first class.
To help with the market’s publicity, Huddleston has also put up new signage around town.
“People who aren’t aware of the market have said they didn’t see any signs up around town, so we have yard signs that will be put up around town and left through the farmers market season,” she said. “We’re going to be on the ad roll at the theater and the digital sign between Ninth and 10th streets.”
Huddleston said the farmers market is a great activity to enjoy as spring turns to summer and throughout the latter season.
“You can get out, be more active,” she said. “It’s seeing people in the community.”
Huddleston too said canine friends are welcome to come to the market.
“We always encourage people to bring their dogs to the farmers market,” she said. “If they do, I take a picture of their dog and post it on the farmers market Facebook page, and everybody seems to enjoy that.”
Of course, having much in the way of food around dogs sometimes proves to be a problem, with canines helping themselves to food, but thus far, Huddleston said it has not been such a problem at the farmers market.
Huddleston said having a farmers market in Southwest Kansas is great, and other area communities have their own markets as well.
“Garden City has had to move theirs indoors,” she said. “Dodge City is functioning somewhere. We feel we have a little better market. We did help get one started in Plains.”
On many of the Saturdays the farmers market, including the first Saturday, other community and area events take place such as Grace Place Pregnancy Care Center’s Run Baby Run, OK Kids Day at Meade Lake State Park and the Yellow Brick Road Car Show in May. Huddleston said the market adds to the fun of those weekends.
“You can sometimes do more than one,” she said. “May is a pretty competitive month with graduations and things, so that’s why we scheduled the radio remotes for the first and second Saturdays of June. That’ll be fun. We’ll be giving some bling away. It’ll be fun for the kids.”
Huddleston said she intentionally seeks out potential vendors for the market.
“I watch all Facebook posts,” she said. “If somebody’s selling something on Facebook they could sell at the farmers market, I contact them and offer them a spot. I go to home shows and craft shows and visit everybody there who’s within a traveling distance or somebody here in Liberal who hasn’t been to the market before and give them a card and talk to them. I’m always looking for vendors.”
Funding for the farmers market comes largely from KFAN and the KU Medical Center’s Communities Organizing to Promote Equity program.
“That’s been a nice thing for us because we are self-supporting,” Huddleston said. “We had a grant to start the farmers market, but have been self-supporting ever since. We don’t have a whole lot of money to spend.”
Huddleston said thus far in its first decade plus of existence, the farmers market has been great, and it continues to grow.
“Last year was our biggest year,” she said. “During the summer, I averaged 30 to 35 vendors, which is amazing. That space has still only had it half full. If I fill up the back part, there’s not a whole lot of parking for customers, and I want to reserve close parking for customers.”
Huddleston said food wise, nearly anything can be sold at the market if it is not sold more than six times a year.
“That allows non-profits, churches, fundraisers to do that and not have to have a food license,” she said. “There’s some things they can’t even sell without a food license. If you sell something that requires a food license, it’s the same license as a restaurant. It’s expensive and has to prepared in a licensed kitchen, and even though we have a couple of licensed kitchens in Liberal, the food has to be prepared in the kitchen and transported to the point of sale. You can’t rent the kitchen, make the food, take it home and bring it to the market.”
No registration is necessary to get a vendor spot at the farmers market, as Huddleston, who took over control of the event eight years ago, has simplified that process.
“You don’t have to make a reservation,” she said. “You don’t have to pay in advance. You just show up, and find me when you get there. I’ll show you what spaces are available. It’s $10 per Saturday, or you can buy a season pass for $150, which saves you $70 if you’re going to be there at least 15 of the Saturdays. It also guarantees you reserved spots.”
For more information about the market, visit the Farmers Market in Liberal, KS Facebook page, or call or text Huddleston at 620-624-3882.
Huddleston said she is excited for this year’s market.
“I want to see if it’s even better than last season,” she said. “It depends on the vendors. It depends on the produce that’s available.”
