Soapbox/ July 21,2014
The Corporation for Findlay Market is now in its second year of community partnerships to bring farm stands to Cincinnati-area communities. The project was born when Tracy Power, resource coordinator at Roberts Academy and Community Learning Center, met Karen Kahle, director of resource development for Findlay Market, at an event geared to helping parents at Roberts learn how use SNAP and EBT cards to purchase fresh local produce at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine. After the program was completed, Power and Kahle both noticed that none of the participants were taking advantage of what they had learned.
“Transportation was the number one issue,” Power says. “They couldn’t find a way to get to Over-the-Rhine. And there’s a language barrier as well. So since we couldn’t work out how we could get the parents to Findlay, we looked for a way to bring access to locally grown produce to them.”
As a result, Roberts Academy entered into a partnership with Findlay Market, and with the help of a startup grant from an anonymous donor, launched Findlay’s first remote farm stand in July 2013.