Kent Seeks Grant for Haymaker Farmers Market

A $100,000 grant could expand awareness of, and the actual use at, the Haymaker Farmers Market in downtown Kent.

Administrators with the city, the market and teamed up to apply for the grant, available through the USDA Farmers Market Promotional Program.

Kelly Ferry, manager of the Haymaker Farmers Market, said there are three elements they would use the grant money for to expand interaction and use at the market.

Ferry said the larger portion of the award would be used to double the value of , by as much as $10 per card per week, until that aspect of the money is exhausted.

The grant money also would be used to buy equipment for the Kent State Campus Kitchen to do cooking demonstrations and run their nutrition education program at the market.

Lastly, the grant money would support expansion of Kent Aquaponics, run by Paul Meyers in Kent's South End, where fish and plants are grown through a community-based program. The pilot program would have 10 households growing food year-round through Meyers' aquaponics system.

"The 10 families who join that program will have a cooperative booth at the market, selling tilapia and whatever produce they grow in the aquaponics system," Ferry said.

Kent grants administrator Bridget Susel said the goal of applying for the grant is to expand the use of local foods and healthy foods within low-income households while expanding the market itself for farmers.

The grant requires no local match from the city, and applications are due by May 21.

"It’s highly competitive ... It's worth a shot," Susel said.

Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said the grant would help move the market towards the concept of a "food hub," in which farmers could bring produce to a distribution point in the vicinity of downtown so restaurants such as , , the or could buy local produce for use in their kitchens.

"Our sort of strategy all along is to keep some balance between old and new, and who we are and who we want to be as a community," Ruller said. "And one of the things we continue to be impressed with is the progress of the Haymaker Farmers Market.

"We’ve been talking about how we make sure that has a future amidst all these shiny new buildings, because that has a different flavor," Ruller said.