JACKSON, Wyo.— The Farm Stand celebrated its seasonal opening on June 24, completing the full schedule of weekly, local food offerings from Slow Food in the Tetons this summer. The organization works to connect local farmers, ranchers and food producers with the community through year-round market opportunities, including the People’s Market and Online Marketplace, that allow customers to purchase good, clean and fair food from local and regional growers.
The Farm Stand is a summer-only addition to the weekly market offerings and is a celebrated staple for many Jackson shoppers, chefs, and visitors. Located on Hwy 89, next to Twigs Nursery in the Movieworks Plaza, the vibrant colors, aromas, and seasonal offerings underneath the corner tent are a summer destination.
Slow Food took over operations at the Farm Stand from the previous owner in 2017, adding more cold storage space, a growing list of suppliers, and labeling that includes growing practices, but continuing the familiar fresh-from-the-farm feel.
“When the first tomatoes arrive,” said Slow Food Director of Development and Marketplace Programs, Gretchen Cherry, “the excitement starts to build. The colors bring customers.” Cherry sources fruits, vegetables, herbs, grains, and packaged foods from local and regional suppliers to offer a fresh, seasonal, and changing array each week. “Many of the farmers harvest and deliver within the same day. The items are so fresh that we often don’t know exactly what we’ll have until the harvest is in, and the truck arrives.”
Customers line up early for favorites like the mid-summer berries and squash, fall melons, and fresh-baked pies and bread. The early season finds available now include spring salad mixes, microgreens, radishes, kale, bok choy, and herbs from local growers like Haderlie Farms, Canewater Farm, Alpenglow Farm, Mountain Meadow Gardens, and Huidekoper Ranch.
The Farm Stand is open Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., through September 24.
Customers can pair their Farm Stand produce with meat, cheese, and packaged and prepared foods from the Slow Food Online Marketplace. A weekly ordering period runs 12 p.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Tuesday, and order pick up is on-site on Thursdays and Fridays during Farm Stand hours.
“The programs we run” explained Slow Food Executive Director, Scott Steen, “are intended to build connections between local food producers and the community. The combination of online ordering and seasonal produce offerings at the Farm Stand increases exposure and awareness around local food and highlights the many resources within our local food network.” In 2020, Farm Stand programming featured 20 local and regional growers, served 1,526 customers, and generated $116,000 in food sales direct to producers.
The Clear Creek Group is this year’s Lead Sponsor for the Farm Stand. “Our interest in supporting this program,” said founding partner, Morgan Bruemmer, “goes beyond a corporate sponsorship. Good, clean and fair food has played a tremendous role in my life, and we believe it’s important for our community’s health and well-being. Not only that, locally produced food tastes better! Slow Foods’ commitment to making it available to us, whether through the Farm Stand, the People’s Market, or it’s many other programs, is invaluable.”
Additional summer programming from Slow Food in the Tetons includes the Wednesday People’s Market, 4-7 p.m., through September 22, on the Lawn at the Center for the Arts, and the annual Farm to Fork Festival, October 1-3. More information is available at tetonslowfood.org.
For more information or to get involved with the Slow Food in the Tetons visit their website, or follow via Facebook and Instagram.
