October 23rd, 2021 Tomball Farmers Market

International Make A difference Day
​October 23rd, 2021

I am a suburbs girl and I never really thought about where my food comes from until I joined the Tomball Farmers Market over 6 years ago. I just wanted to make a little extra income filling in for a vendor who needed more staffing. Now as Market Manager for TFM my knowledge continues to grow.  The most eye opening thing I learned was when myself and other board members attended the Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference put on by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance back in August about soil. 

If we do nothing to fix how big farms are robbing our soil of nutrients by over-tilling methods we only have about 60 HARVESTS LEFT world wide!! Soil Conservation has become more critically important in the last 10 years as nations have seen an increased problem of dust storms, flooding issues and crops struggling to take root.

​Making the cost of everything we eat go up and food shortages increasing around the world including here in the United States. 

Dust storm in Australia. Photo: Ian Armstrong

2012 Map Graphic: Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

Pictures and information borrowed from the Columbia Climate School in this informative article Why Soil Matters.

"Soil acts as a buffer against pollutants such as heavy metals and excess nutrients. Moreover, soil is critical in helping slow climate change—as the largest carbon sink on land, it stores over three times more carbon than forests and other vegetation."
​- Columbia Climate School

Photo credit: The Flourishing Times by Brandi McRill

Phot credit: Texas Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance.

Photo credit: Rain Song Farms

All this may seem daunting and overwhelming and you may think that there is no way for you to help. I certainly did and have been learning how I can help.

There are several ways you can make small changes TODAY that will have a big impact.

Our TFM Board President from The Flourishing Times wrote a wonderful guest blog post on the 5 LOCAL ways you can change our future!  She also created a Farm to Kitchen Collective to make it easier for families who can't always get out to a local farmers market and have busy lives to be able to have access to fresh local foods weekly.

You can also TAKE ACTION by contacting your local Senator and State Representative and urge them both to support using $10 million of the ARPA funds for a “healthy soils” grant program to be administered by the Soil & Water Conservation Board. 

"Allocating $10 million in ARPA funds makes financial sense. Helping farmers cover the up-front costs of implementing these healthy soil measures could help hundreds of them improve their land and save the State and taxpayers many times that amount of money in flood reduction and other benefits."   
-FARFA

---

This is one of the many reason Tomball Farmers Market requires our all our farmers and all other vendors to produce it, craft it and grow it within 150 miles of Tomball, TX. 

Supporting our local rural farmers helps them be able to provide a healthy and productive food supply locally using sustainable/regenerative methods.

As our farmers prepare for their local fall harvest we will have several of our produce farmers out this weekend.

Vendors who will be out this weekend:

Atkinson Farms (returning October 30th)
Rain Song Farms (returning October 30th)
Theiss Family Farms (seasonal farmer)
Keanu's Cookies  (Coming every other weekend)
Indulge Bakery (will be back October 30th with $1 Macs!!)
Miya's Munchies (will be back October 30th)
What's Crackalackin (will be back October 30th)

We have 3 New Visiting Vendors this Weekend!
Bougie's Hydroponic Gardens
Circle of Love Wreaths
Love Always Art

Bring your kids and fur babies out October 30th for our Halloween Bingo Event!  We will have a bingo hunt for your kiddos for special prizes for regular bingo and 3 special prizes for the first 3 kids to get black out bingo!

As always we can't wait to see you!
Tomball Farmers Market
~Amanda Kelly, Market Manager