By Tina Dirmann
staff writer for BCBSLA Foundation
Mayor Charles Newsom with home gardner and vendor Karen Richardson.
It was a pleasure, as it always is, visiting our newest farmers market, opening this time in the town of Tullos, La. I enjoy seeing the freshest fruits and veggies out for sale, all of it grown at the hands of friends, neighbors, local farmers…
But this ribbon cutting ceremony, marking the official launch of the Tullos Farmers Fest (a Challenge for a Healthier Louisianagrant sponsored event), seemed particularly meaningful. Because it filled an important gap in this tight-knit community, where the next nearest spot to buy fresh produce is an astounding 7 miles away, according to Mayor Charles Newsom.
“That’s right, it’s seven miles to the nearest grocery from here,” Newsom said. “We had a Dollar General open here recently. And you can get a lot of what you need there. But they don’t sell fresh produce. Now, with this opening, you can get all you need right here and you never have to leave town. I’m loving it!”
And it’s a big deal not just because of the convenience factor. It’s a health thing, too…
Cherry Beth Salter is the director of nurses at Hardtner Medical Center. Salter and her co-worker, Program Director Chad Long, head up an education outreach program, letting folks in the community know what new services are available, thanks to the Challenge Grant funded Live Lively La Salle initiative.
Says Salter, “People don’t like to travel far to get fresh food and vegetables. So, instead, they end up just heading for the nearest fast food restaurant or fried food option.”
So making it easier to access the right choices will make it easier to change the community — which is no easy feat in itself. It’s a culture thing, Long adds.
“Some of our eating habits are deep rooted in our culture,” he said, echoing a thought we hear so often throughout our great state. “So, making food choice changes can be really hard. But having access to those good food options, that helps. That’s the first step, making the food available.”
The next step is getting folks to actually buy it. And eat it.
Karen Richardson, who drove some 40 miles to participate in Monday’s market, offering her home grown green peppers, tomatoes, banana peppers and herbs for sale, knows the struggle. She hears it all the time, from the markets she also works in Alec and Cofax — how people are so unfamiliar with fresh produce that they aren’t even sure how to prepare it.
“I had one lady tell me she didn’t know how to cook green beans,” Richardson said. “I was floored. And another lady I knew came up to me all excited saying, “Did y’all know potatoes grow in the ground?”
But on this day, as Richardson proudly sold some of her summer squash, she confided, “I like to play in the kitchen with my vegetables. I never know what new recipe I’ll come up with!”
Olla Mayor Jason Chisolm said the event has inspired him to start growing his own veggies, like okra and squash. But he loved the scene at Monday’s market, where neighbors showed up to visit with neighbor.
“Something like this serves two purposes,” he said. “It doesn’t just help people eat healthy. But these are also centers that bring people together and bonds them into the community. Look around, you see people coming to buy vegetables, and then staying to visit and talk with their neighbors. This is the way it used to be. It’s a taste of the old world.”
And anyone with a garden can participate, Newsom said.
“We’re telling people, ‘Maybe you had a good season this year,’ ” he said. “Well, bring your extra stuff on over and sell it here. Then maybe stay and socialize awhile. Maybe you only have $5 worth of stuff to buy or sell, then you end up staying an hour to socialize.”
After the ribbon cutting ceremony, which officially launched the market, available every Monday and Thursdays mornings (6537 Park Street in Tullos), Mayor Newsom took time to thank Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, which helped make the day possible. The grant dollars, he said, paid for the food tables, construction of the market’s shelter, the new sign, and, soon, they will add ceiling fans and lights. And before it’s all done, town officials will erect new exercise equipment in an open, grassy field alongside the market.
“This was nothing but a concrete slab before,” Newsom said. “It used to be an old basketball court. And now, look at us! We’re the first in all of LaSalle Parish to have a farmers market!”
Though, note, the other three mayors in the parish (all Live Lively LaSalle participants), will be following in his footsteps soon… We can’t wait!
