LEBANON, N.H. (WCAX) Summer farmers markets are in full swing and in the Upper Valley, some kids are earning their keep with the power of produce.
As the music plays at the Lebanon farmers market, Jack Desrosiers, 5, is getting ready to make a purchase. But first, he’s creating a vegetable hand puppet that earns him three “POP bucks.”
Reporter Adam Sullivan: What are you going to buy with your tokens?
Jack Desrosiers: Sugar snap peas.
Adam Sullivan: How come?
Jack Desrosiers: Because I love them so much.
About 20 miles away in South Royalton, Izzy Nickerson, 7, is learning about kitchen tools. With her POP bucks, she’s buying raspberries.
Izzy Nickerson: Because my parents want some.
Adam Sullivan: Oh, you are going to get some raspberries for your parents?
Izzy Nickerson: Yeah.
Adam Sullivan: That’s nice.
“It is kind of empowering for them,” said Allison Furbish of Vital Communities.
Vital Communities sponsors the Power of Produce clubs. The nonprofit connects people to local agricultural. The POP activities get children ages 5-12 thinking about healthy eating.
“Getting kids involved with local food early on in life definitely turns them into adults who care about that sort of thing, too,” Furbish said. “That is why you will also see that there are a lot of schools in the Upper Valley, 45 or more, that participate in farm to school activities.”
Each week, there’s a new activity under the tent which volunteers help coordinate.
“It is fun in the moment and it’s a point of reference that they have for the rest of their lives. It gives them an alternative to microwave meals,” said Elizabeth Ferry, a volunteer.
“If I learn, then I will get to know new stuff as I grow up,” Izzy Nickerson said.
Thirteen Upper Valley farmers markets are taking part in the event which lasts all summer long. But organizers say the kids are learning a skill that can last a lifetime.