SPRINGDALE -- Local farmers market organizers are celebrating more than just spring this year.
A new state law allowing the sale of home-produced specialties helps the markets expand their offerings.
Organizers also hope the easing of the measures taken to slow the spread of the covid-19 virus bring back vendors and customers who stayed away from the markets the last two years, said Kimberly Scott, manager of the Rogers Farmers Market.
The producers also are crossing their fingers for a warm spring. The late freeze last year ruined fruit crops, said Teresa Maurer, manager of the Fayetteville Farmers' Market.
The region's farmers markets feature foods from only local growers and producers, market managers said.
Seasons
The Springdale market will open May 7 with spring greens, such as radishes, turnips and other cool weather vegetables, said Carol Butler, the market's manager.
May should bring strawberries, and mid-June, warmer weather fruits and vegetables, Maurer said.
"Vanzant Fruit Farms has been a member of the Springdale Farmers Market for years," Butler said. "They keep us well supplied with peaches, and later, apples."
Butler also expects blueberries, blackberries and ever-popular watermelons. And tomatoes will rule July, Butler continued.
Maurer said the Fayetteville market this early in the season also offers plant cuttings for gardeners. A cutting is a section of plant -- such as a stem, leaf or root -- used to start another plant.
Markets also are finding microgreens popular with shoppers.
Hydroponically grown indoors, they can be grown during winter and are available now, Maurer said.
Microgreens are vegetables in their early stages -- and very nutritious, she said.
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service describes microgreens as seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs.
Studies have shown microgreens are loaded with nutrients, such as vitamins C, E and K, lutein and beta-carotene -- at 40 times more than the mature leaves of the same plants, according to the extension's website.
Consumers are familiar with microgreens topping entrees as garnishes at restaurants or as part of a mixed salad, the website states. Mature vegetables are still an important source of fiber, but microgreens fill in all of the dietary gaps, it says.
Cottage food
The state Legislature in July passed the Food Freedom Act, which allows for sales directly to the consumer of food or drink products that do not require refrigeration to prevent the growth of microorganisms, according to the extension service website.
These can include baked goods; candy; fruit butters, jams and jellies; chocolate covered fruit and berries that are not cut; honey products; and some products with a pH less than 4.6, such as some pickles, salsas and sauces.
Arkansas has allowed "cottage food" sales at farmers markets since 2011, with these nonperishable foods prepared in private home kitchens, rather than commercial settings.
Vendors at the Springdale market this year will offer pickled items, sauces, jams and jelly, honey, barbecue sauces, marinades and soup mixes, Baker said.
The markets also will offer baked goods -- including some gluten-free, she said.
The law does not exempt home-based food producers from the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the extension website states. All products made must be unadulterated and branded appropriately.
Bakery products, jams, jellies and fruit butter made with Splenda and similar sugar substitutes are considered potentially hazardous food and are not covered by the Arkansas Food Freedom Act, according to the website.
SNAP
Since 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has allowed the use of its monthly food assistance programs at cooperating farmers markets, including many in the region.
Families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can bring their electronic benefits transfer cards to the managers booth to receive tokens to spend on eligible food items, Maurer said about the process at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market.
The tokens may be used to buy fruits, vegetables, jams, jellies, meats, eggs, cheeses, baked goods and prepackaged food from vendors, she said.
A grant from the Walmart Family Foundation matches dollar for dollar the amount program participants spend at the Fayetteville market. When the program's card is swiped, the bearer will receive twice as many tokens for use with the vendors.
The program also is available for those enrolled in the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program and the Women, Infants and Children's Farmers Market Nutrition Program.
While SNAP helps low-income Americans buy food, the program also supports farmers and farmers markets in all 50 states, according to the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
More serving
The Fort Smith Farmers Market offers a new program this year. The market will sell $1 wooden tokens that may be given as gifts and redeemed at market booths, according to Kathy Mazyck, the market's secretary and treasurer.
The plan is twofold. First, market organizers hope the tokens will attract new visitors to the market, Mazyck said.
Organizers also want to use proceeds to make a donation to the Riverview Hope Campus in Fort Smith, which serves homeless residents with three meals a day, showers, beds and mental health care.
Mazyck said the market will no longer participate in the federal food assistance programs. Administration of the program was costing the market $2,000 a year, she said.
She said the program this year would require the market to buy a new teller machine costing $1,000, and the market paid a third party to verify the tokens to the state.
Mazyck said the market had to decide whether to pay for portable toilets, insurance or the new machine. She admitted the market had received criticism for dropping the program.
"But we are still feeding people," she said. "The donation to Hope provides direct services to the people who need it. We know exactly what is going on with our money."
More News
NoneFarmers markets
Bentonville
Open year round online
7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday
5 to 8 p.m. Thursday
Bentonville Square
Fayetteville
Open year round online
7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday
7 a.m. to 1 p.m Tuesday, starting in May
Fayetteville Square
Fort Smith
Open year round
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday
Opens Wednesday in June
North Second Street and Garrison Avenue
Rogers
Opens April 30
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Wednesday
Frisco Station Mall
Springdale
Opens May 7
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday
The Jones Center
SOURCE: Market managers, websites