Field to Family’s online farmers market is returning for its fourth season, and this year its array of fresh locally sourced foods and other items, including plant starters and baked goods, will be arriving early. Instead of opening in May as it has in previous years, Field to Family’s farmers market will celebrate Earth Week by going live on Sunday, April 21, and holding a special Earth Week Fair on Thursday, April 25, at its warehouse located in Iowa City’s South District at Pepperwood Plaza (1049 Hwy 6).
“This educational event will feature activities from other environmentally focused organizations in the Johnson County area, plus door prizes, food, and more,” according to Field to Family.
The 90-minute event starts at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are free, although donations will be accepted.
Tickets will be available through the same online ordering process as the rest of goods on offer next week, and during the same hours, from 5 p.m. on Sunday through noon on Tuesday. Those ordering hours will be in effect all throughout this season, and are an expansion of the ordering period from previous years when ordering started on Monday mornings. Orders will be ready for pick-up on Thursday, the same as past years, at the same location, the warehouse at Pepperwood Plaza.
Expanding ordering hours is the most recent change by Field to Family in an effort to make its farmers market goods more accessible. Last summer, the nonprofit added French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Swahili as languages on its site.
In addition to the farmers market, the nonprofit also serves wholesale customers, such as K-12 schools, food pantries, retirement communities and colleges, providing them with fresh, locally sourced food available through the farmers market. The online farmers market began as a collaboration between Field to Family and the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department in May 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the Iowa City Farmers Market. When the Iowa City Farmers Market resumed in-person shopping at the Chauncey Swan ramp in 2021, Field to Family continued the online market on its own.
“Reducing barriers to choosing local and investing in local farmers is important to our mission to create a stronger and more local community food system,” Field to Family Executive Director Michelle Kenyon said in a news release announcing the start of this year’s farmers market season.
The 2024 season for the Field to Family online farmers market will open Sunday, April 21, and run through the third week of December.
