Cora was pleased. I was too of course, but I told her that I
wouldn’t be surprised if many of the children who visit the market have similar
responses.
Last Tuesday we put out a “left-overs” bin for the children
eating the Free Kids Supper. Officially the purpose was to let our farmers’
pigs enjoy the leftovers. But we also wanted to see what kind of food waste we
had.
The bin was full at the end of the supper, but three-fourths of
the “waste” was watermelon rinds (which the pigs love). About gallon was actual
food waste, and of that only about six cups was fruit and vegetables. Not bad when
each of 85 kids received over a cup of fresh fruits and vegetables. Apparently
these kids love their fruits and vegetables, at least the ones they get at the
market. It’s so hot that we serve as much cool and raw as we can – cantaloupe,
sweet pepper strips, cherry tomatoes. The bonus watermelon slices were a big
hit.
When we teamed up with Central United Methodist Church and the
Missouri Department of Health to serve the meals, we anticipated buying as much
of the fruits and vegetables as we could from our farmers. It hasn’t worked out
that way – almost always they insist on giving it to us. Tuesday we served
watermelon donated by Owen Detweiler. I told Owen, “you need to let me buy this
from you so I can ask you for more without worrying about it cutting into your
income.” He responded, “I want you to
ask, but you can’t pay for it.”
So far we’ve managed to spend $55 on produce for over 450 meals
– that’s .12 a meal. Owen is just one of five farmers who have supplied produce
for the supper. You may get weary of me saying it, but I work with a fine group
of farmers.
And with a fine group of volunteers. Central continues to
schedule, train and supervise about seven volunteers at each supper. Some come
from the church, of course, but others are not connected to the church. They just
want to be part of a lovely community service. And it became even lovelier this
week when the market decided to add music to the experience.
If you’ve been to the market, you know we love our music and
our musicians. And we love our new big tent that the Joplin Area Food Action
Network bought for the kids supper. But the tent is too far from the pavilion
to hear the music so I called Marshall Mitchell (left) who usually plays the first
Saturday of each month to come entertain in the tent. Marshall loves performing
with and for kids. He’s specializes in cowboy music and comes complete with
cowboy hat, mustache and sawhorse pony. He was a big hit and we’ve got him
coming back this Tuesday. If we can come up with a few spare tables, we may
even break out the checkers and chess sets and the coloring pages that we set
out during winter market.
Today we welcome the Loose Notes to the market stage. The Loose
Notes play bluegrass and gospel, with a few cowboy and railroad songs thrown in.
M & M Bistro serves lasagna, moussaka, chicken pita wrap, gyro, hummus and
tabouleh plates and baklava. Lumpy’s Express will have barbecued ribs, beef and
port and smoked chicken with sides.
On Saturday, Cooking for a Cause benefits the Ozark Gateway chapter of the Audubon Society. Interested in
birds? The folks dishing up the biscuits
and gravy, sausages and eggs cooked to order are too! Marshall Mitchell is performing. (right - that's some croissants from Red Lab Farms. They come on Saturdays.)
On Tuesday, Marshall returns to the supper tent. The Pommerts
will play in the pavilion. Carmine’s Wood Fire Pizza is back baking artisan
pizza to order from 4 to 7. Supper with Trish begins at 5 – ham salad or
chicken salad sandwich, two sides, dessert and drink for $5. The Free Kids
Supper runs from 5 to 6:30 and will be sloppy Joes, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes
and milk. Extension will serve samples of melon kabobs!
And good news! The
parking north of the pavilion has been restored. It was torn up by installation
of a gas line to the kitchen, but Missouri Gas Service has smoothed it out and
you no longer need four wheel drive to park there. Life is good at the market. See
you there!
