AIM Uses Farmers Markets and Programs to Give Back to the Community
Andy Naja-Riese (courtesy of AIM)
By Daniel Jewett March 2021
At their heart, farmers markets are about community. And for the Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM), which runs eight local markets including two at the Marin Civic Center, that means much more than just hosting a shopping area — it includes supporting the 350-plus farmers who sell at the markets, championing the restaurants that buy the produce and making sure healthy, nutritious food gets from local farms to members of the community no matter what their economic, mobility and health limitations might be.
“One of the biggest barriers to eating a healthy diet is transportation and mobility, and we know that despite the popularity of farmers markets there are folks, particularly older folks, who might not be able to visit the market,” says AIM CEO Andy Naja-Riese. “In response we created a mobile market.” This successful program, called Rollin’ Root, brings fresh organic food from AIM farmers to senior housing and community sites around the county in a mobile refrigerated truck. AIM just won an Excellence in Innovation Award at the 28th annual Heart of Marin event for the program, which often offers produce at discounts or for free through CalFresh/EBT and AIM’s Senior Bonus Bucks.
….After the USDA changed the program last August and no longer prioritized local and regional food, instead turning to large-scale industrial agriculture to get out as many boxes as possible, AIM was forced to adjust. Naja-Riese called the move “very disappointing,” but was able to find more funding to keep the program going, and then in January announced a new collaboration with Growing the Table, Performing Stars and ExtraFood for a 10-week pilot program delivering boxes and feeding thousands of under-resourced families.
“In partnership with 10 farmers — most of whom are BIPOC, women and immigrants and who use climate-smart practices — we will be curating a total of 250 Bounty Boxes a week over the next 10 weeks,” he says.
To read the complete article, visit Marin Living.
