October is a time of gathering. Curling up in front of a warm fire with a cup of mulled cider made with locally pressed fresh apples, gathering with friends over a charcuterie board featuring local cheeses and a nice bottle of Pennsylvania wine – even cheering on your favorite football team at a local brewery while noshing on apps and beers… It’s clear that local foods complement all that the fall season has to offer.
But sometimes it can be a challenge to connect with all the local goodness that our area can provide. To help bridge that gap, The Cooperage Project developed the Northern Poconos Mobile Farm Market. Utilizing grant funding, work on bringing dreams to fruition began in earnest in March of 2023 when a new Mobile Market Manager was hired. On June 13, the Mobile Market rolled out and began connecting residents with their local food system by bringing seasonal produce and local products closer to their doorsteps.
This new and innovative program is dedicated to reducing barriers to food access and providing greater purchasing power. The mission of the Mobile Market is to offer an accessible, affordable, and more equitable method for consumers to purchase fresh, locally grown and produced foods. While the Mobile Market will reach underserved consumers as its primary target audience, it will also serve all residents who are looking to eat local foods, and it will benefit small businesses and producers by increasing market opportunities.
Through dedicated partnerships, educational opportunities, voucher incentives, and social connection, the Mobile Market will connect community members to their foodscape – providing lasting benefits to the local economy and elevating our collective sense of community and place. The Mobile Market program aims to serve residents of Wayne County through collaboration with farmers, producers, and a network of sites. Markets are located at senior centers and senior/disabled housing complexes, with additional sites that are also open to the public. As the program completes its first season, growth and expansion are forefront to the goals The Cooperage Project has for this initiative.
Look for a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, cheese, butter and other products made, grown, or harvested in the Northern Poconos region each time you visit one of the Mobile Market sites. A full schedule of market locations can be obtained by visiting cooperage.org or by contacting Laurel at 570-251-1278.
Laurel Burns is the Mobile Market Manager at The Cooperage Project in Honesdale PA. A native of Wayne County and a product of its agricultural legacy, she resides in Newfoundland with her husband and family. She can be reached at 570-251-1278 or laurel@thecooperageproject.org. The mission of The Cooperage Project is to offer a range of instructive and entertaining activities that will engage, challenge and enlighten. Through a variety of programs, we will inspire people of all ages to both embrace diversity and celebrate shared experience in order to create a deeper sense of community.