Farmers Market next steps

A committee is looking for more support for a new Postville Farmers Market pilot project to start in late summer 2020. This year’s market will get people used to the idea, build support and publicity for the market, and provide a test to see how to best operate and organize the market in order to be well-prepared for a full Farmers Market season in 2021. The state of Iowa has issued guidelines for Farmers Markets across the state, which will be followed at the future Postville market. 

A downtown Farmers Market will help small growers and makers publicize their products and provide an avenue for beginning entrepreneurs who work with food or crafts. The market is intended to provide an additional attraction that will bring more people to downtown Postville to shop and use local businesses. The idea for the market grew out of the recently completed Our Postville plan. 

The market is still actively recruiting vendors who will commit to selling every Thursday from 4-6pm for about 10 weeks, though the exact schedule is still to be determined. The Farmers Market committee is also looking for volunteers to help organize and run the market by serving on a committee. The committee meets weekly via Zoom for less than an hour. 

Anyone who wants to learn more about how Iowa farmers markets are put together can access the free Farmers Market Managers Toolkit at northeastiowarcd.org. Vendor guides on topics such as licensing, insurance, and marketing are also available for download. Interested volunteers or vendors can contact Nathan Thompson at ourpostville@gmail.com or at 563-277-0045. Follow updates at OurPostville.com and on Facebook through Our Postville page and Hometown to the World community group.

Read the full article in the June 10 edition of the Postville Herald.