Hey there, friends!
Guess what? Our favorite groundhog didn't spot his shadow, signaling that spring is just around the corner! While Phil's accuracy is about 39%, let's channel some positive vibes and hope this is one of his accurate years.
Now, for some thrilling news at the store! We have a grant that needs to be used up by May, so we've decided to make all produce, milk, eggs, and meat absolutely free. Yes, you read it right! This offer is for everyone, but once the funds are exhausted, we'll have to wrap it up. So, don't miss out— be cool, and grab some goodies while you can!
But wait, there's more! We're on a mission to gather donations for our upcoming "Golden Ticket" program next summer. This initiative provides a $150 gift card to community members facing food insecurity. Thanks to last summer's grant, we distributed around $30,000 worth of free food to our neighbors. While there's no news on a new grant for next summer, we're working to find an alternative funding source.
And that's not all – we've got some fantastic grants in the pipeline. With the Local Food Purchasing Assistance grant, we aim to cover CSA shares for those in need through our partnerships with your favorite farmers. Additionally, we will be delivering around $80,000 worth of locally grown products to Hilltown Food Pantries over the next 18 months. Stay tuned for more details as we finalize the plans.
So, not only can you savor free food now, but we're also working on long-term solutions to support those in need. It's all about fostering our community and ensuring everyone enjoys access to fresh, nutritious food. Together, let's make a positive impact and build a stronger, healthier community. Let's welcome spring with open arms and spread the word about these exciting initiatives!
As we gear up for the next year, we're curious about your favorite produce items. Mind sharing your preferences in this quick survey? Veggie Delight Index
Enjoy your day,
Hunt & the Hilltown Market Team, Hannah, Lana, Gabriel, Brian, and Joan.
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Plus Sena Brewery will be pouring some delicious ales so make sure you bring some cash or a card.
This is a collaborative effort from the Hilltown Community Development Corporation, Hilltown (mobile) Market, and Hilltown Food Policy Council.
This event and food are free, however beers must be purchased.
Reserve your tickets here
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/hilltown-mobile-market-69637029713
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Begin by clicking on “start shopping”
.
Take some time to peruse all the items we have available for you. Click on the items you want, and they will be added to your cart. You can search by category or by product under the search tab.
Here is an example of me adding garlic scapes to my cart:
Take a moment to review the items in your cart and add or remove anything that needs to be modified. When you have everything you want in your cart, click on your cart, then “review cart”.
We deliver to many locations for free, click on “Free pickup (store and housing locations)” to see the locations, including our housing location drops. There are two pages of locations! See below locations listed, page one and two. If you click on “$5 home delivery” you will be charged $5 and will need to enter all your location information. DO NOT CLICK HOME DELIVERY UNLESS YOU WANT TO PAY $5. You will also need to click on the little box agreeing to the “terms & conditions” to complete your order. Once you have completed the delivery option and completed the terms, click on “check out.”
While this feels like the end of placing your order, there is one more screen that needs to be completed before your order is indeed completed and confirmed.
At this time you do need to enter this information, again to complete the order process. Then click on the red “continue”
Once you complete and continue you will be taken to this payment page:
Select your payment method. Golden ticket recipients add the number in “gift card/discount”, credit card users enter their card info and EBT users can click on EBT option. Click on “continue to payment”
This is what the EBT section below will look like, you will need to enter your name and address and then click on “complete order”. Your order is not completed and confirmed until you have completed all of these steps.
Once your receive this order confirmation, your order is indeed entered and confirmed. Note it saying Thank you in the upper left hand corner!
You will also receive an email that that your order has been confirmed.
If you are having a hard time placing your order, please feel free to reach out for support:
joang@hilltowncdc.org or via telephone (413) 296-4536 ext 102
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We’ve got some exciting new items in the store this week! Cucumbers, squash and zucchini, tomatoes, peaches, lots of fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley), broccoli, cauliflower, frisée, napa cabbage, blackberries… and the list goes on! Fresh herbs and hot weather call for a nice veggie dip in my opinion! A nice light snack to get you through these hot humid days… Try slicing kohlrabi or hakurei turnips to dip and, of course, peas and cukes! Here is my recipe for cream cheese veggie dip:
Keep an eye out for more tomatoes and blueberries in the next week or two! It’s finally time to start pulling out those favorite summer recipes!
In Mobile Market news… I think we have worked out all the kinks in the ordering process! Here are a few tips when placing your order:
One last thing to mention- if anyone is looking to order in bulk (think seconds tomatoes for sauce, etc), let us know! We can get whole cases of items as long as we have a week’s notice.
As always, please reach out to us at market@hilltowncdc.org or respond to this email with any questions!
-Hannah, Hunt, Gabriel, Brian, and Joan (The Mobile Market Team!)
]]>Mobile Market season is on! We are stacking up orders, talking with many of you, and ironing out the kinks as we go! I wanted to follow up on our last email to address a few things that have been causing a little confusion during the ordering process.
Firstly, I know some have been concerned with the low inventory showing on our website. There is more up now, and as the week goes on, and especially as the season progresses and there is more produce to be had and we know more about what you all like, we will be stocking more of everything we have and much more! It’s only week one, and still June! If there are food items you would like to see in our store feel free to let us know and we will see what we can find locally that would be an asset to the market!
In terms of the ordering process, the most common question has been how to order for delivery to our pickup locations. The ”Local Delivery” option is for home delivery only. To have your order delivered for free to one of our pickup locations throughout the Hilltowns, select “Store Pickup”, which will then show you a list of locations to choose from. There is a page 2 of these locations if you don’t see yours initially! Once you choose your location, you must enter the date for pickup (only the following Thursday should be visible and you must select that) and then you will be shown a list of times to select from. This list reflects the hours that you may pick up your order- not before and not after! You do not need to arrive at the exact time that you selected but you must arrive within the pickup window or your order will be donated without a refund! We don’t want to wear out our welcome in these partner locations!
Please reach out to us at market@hilltowncdc.org or respond to this email with any questions you have! We included Joan’s contact in the last email for those who will be paying for their order with SNAP. Please only contact her if you are looking for help processing EBT payments! All other questions should be directed to us at the store.
Thank you for bearing with us as we maneuver the unexpected challenges of our new setup! We so appreciate your continued support as we seek for the most efficient way to run the Mobile Market so it can better serve the Hilltowns!
-Hannah, Hunt, Gabriel, Brian, and Joan (The (Mobile) Market Team)
]]>Sure hasn’t been feeling like it lately, but summer is here! With the onset of summer comes- the moment we’ve all been waiting for- Mobile Market season!
Ordering will open on Saturday 6/24 for delivery to all pickup locations on the following Thursday, 6/29. You can order between Saturday and noon on Wednesday each week for delivery on Thursday. For details on each location, pickup times, etc., check our website starting tomorrow, Friday 6/23. We have partnered with many generous businesses who are willing to share their time and space with us- please be respectful of that and pick up your order withing the window of time that will be state online. Orders that are not picked up by the end of the time slot will be donated and will not be refunded!
Unfortunately, we are still working with the USDA for approval of SNAP processing online. In the meantime, if you need to use SNAP, please reach out to Joan at (413) 296-4536 ext. 102 or JoanG@hilltowncdc.org. Any questions that come up throughout the ordering process, please do not hesitate to ask! Reach us at market@hilltowncdc.org.
Our featured farmer is Holly Kellogg of Holly Berry Farm in Chesterfield. We are well stocked with her honey and beef! We have T-Bone, Tenderloin, Ribeye, Sirloin Strip, NY Sirloin, and Porterhouse steaks!
The recipe I’ve included is an easy veggie curry that calls for swiss chard, but feel free to substitute any hearty greens. I like to serve veggie dishes like this over grains with a little more protein than rice- try rye berries that we have in the store! I also highly recommend using the spices we carry from Old Friends Farm- they grow excellent quality ginger and turmeric in greenhouses right in Amherst!
We are also on the lookout for someone who would be interested in occasional work in the store on a more “on-call” basis to help cover meetings, vacations, and the like. This would have the possibility of some more hours in the future. Please share and send us an email if this interests you!
We are so excited to get the Mobile Market rolling and be able to distribute food all across the Hilltowns! Thank you all for your support!
-Hannah, Hunt, Gabriel, Brian, and Joan (The Hilltown (Mobile) Market Team!)
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Overview:
The Market Delivery Driver is a seasonal position that operates within the Hilltown (Mobile) Market, a collaborative initiative to increase the accessibility and affordability of Hilltown-grown produce. The Market aggregates fresh local produce from Hilltown farms, sorts, packs orders, and delivers to homes and roughly 16 locations throughout the Hilltowns. The season runs from June 29th through November 16th, 8 hours a week, on Thursday.
Responsibilities:
Required Skills:
Qualifications:
Compensation: $20/ hour
Supervised By: Director of Community Programs
EOE/AA/Section 3: Applicants with handicaps and needing assistance will be accommodated. Among equally qualified candidates, low to moderate-income residents of the local region will be given preference.
Please email resume or letter of interest to huntc@hilltowncdc.org
]]>Well, the signs of spring are abundant and undeniable- it’s really here!
]]>Well, the signs of spring are abundant and undeniable- it’s really here! The gentle breeze is pleasant rather than chilling, and it is GO time for our farmers! Activity is picking up around the store at Sawyer Farm with lots of plant babies going into the ground and a new calf in the barn! That summer bounty is on the horizon!
This transformation has brought us some exciting new items in the store: green garlic, arugula, and nettles from Foxtrot Herb Farm (our farmer highlight this week, see below), fresh herbs from Cure For Boredom, the MOST local asparagus from Sawyer Farm and Four Corners Farm, along with lettuce mix from Four Corners, and jams and butters from Alice’s Kitchen!
The featured recipe this week can be almost entirely sourced from our store (except a little olive oil!) and is a delightfully light yet filling salad that truly highlights the flavors of spring! I made it just this morning. It was initially inspired by my mom’s stuffed grape leaves recipe, but those are a lot of work, so I’ve conjured up this “lazy” version in a salad that captures much of the essence that reminds me so much of spring.
The Mobile Market team has been busy preparing for the upcoming start of deliveries. More info on the exact details coming very soon! We are also working on expanding our Mobile Market service into the Berkshire towns of Dalton, Windsor, Peru, and Hinsdale this year thanks to a grant from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. We are currently seeking locations in each town to partner with for distribution (except Windsor, where pickup will remain at Sangar’s).
Some of you have been asking, so we’ve added a “Pay it Forward” option in store and online for anyone who is able and would like to donate to help us continue to help provide fresh local food for all in the community through our Golden Ticket program, Free Fridge, and accessibility for those who use SNAP, HIP, and now Fresh Connect as well!
Speaking of the Free Fridge, it is still well stocked with roots and occasionally other produce and dairy items. Radishes for days out there! Try adding some daikon radish to a slaw or stir fry. Or my favorite at this time of year, roasted roots in a foil packet on the campfire! The Free Fridge is located right on the front porch of the store.
As a reminder, our storefront is open 7 days a week at 19 Sawyer Rd in Worthington! We are open Tuesday-Friday 8-7 and Saturday-Monday 10-4. See you soon!
-Hannah and the rest of the Mobile Market Team- Hunt, Gabriel, Brian, and Joan
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We are excited to be offering food year-round to our community and growing the number of agricultural producers we are working with.
This year you can expect to see goods from: Berniche Blueberry Farm (Chesterfield), Clark Brothers Orchard (Ashfield), Cream of the Crop (Russell),Fern Hill Farm (Buckland), Lambrico (Whately), Four Corners Farm (Worthington), Romeo Farms (Worthington), Foxtrot Herb Farm (Ashfield),Good Bunch Farm (Charlemont), Grace Hill Farm (Cummington), Hart Farm (Conway), Cure for Boredom (Worthington), Intervale Farm (Westhampton), Kinne Brook Farm (Worthington), Mayval Farm (Westhampton), Sawyer Farm (Worthington), Stone Bridge (Chesterfield).
While we wait for this seasons vegetables to start coming in we have been supplementing our store with goods produced in the Pioneer Valley, then Hudson Valley, and if we can't find what we are looking for there we will order it from the Boston Market.
If you produce a product you would like to us to sell or want to see something specific at the store let us know!
See you Wednesday!
]]>Local produce is exciting! Here is an approximation of when to expect your favorite items.
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