May All Be Well
“We need an increased focus on the right message to the right person at the right time...Lets not worry about new. Let’s worry about better.”
Happy Wednesday!
As many of you know, it is Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Macon Mental Health Matters has several events going on this month that pertain to maintaining one’s mental health. Follow the links to see more! https://www.maconmentalhealthmatters.com/
https://www.maconmentalhealthmatters.com/event-details/men-mental-wellness-lunch-learn-series
https://www.maconmentalhealthmatters.com/event-details/community-wide-mindfulness-day
Macon Mental Health Matters is a great organization that seeks to help anyone in the Macon-Bibb county area needing mental health services. They help to connect people with mental health advocates to make sure that Macon-Bibb has the mental healthcare it needs.
In observance of AAPI Heritage Month, I wanted to feature a farmer who is an activist as well.
“Mai Nguyen is a farmer and organizer whose end goal is “to provide delicious, nutritious, culturally-appropriate food using environmentally beneficial methods.” As the co-founder of the Asian American Farmers Alliance and a member of the Farmer Justice Collaborative, she helped pass a trailblazing farmer equity act in California in 2017. Nguyen draws upon her experiences of being a refugee, her science, food distribution, marketing, community organizing backgrounds to develop an equitable, ecological food system.”
Mai spent a lot of their early years trying to find ways to bring more nutritious foods to the table, but saw that we were destroying the planet in the process. They set out to change that while also providing culturally appropriate foods for her community.
Mai’s philosophy is diversified farming for a diverse California. While they are focused on their state of California, I truly believe that this philosophy is a great one for our state as well.
“Farms should meet the needs of people. That means we need to farm in ways that replenish the soil, water and air. Humans and nature aren’t separate. We are all part of a system, and it is our responsibility to take care of each other and the earth.
Farms should meet the needs of all people. Consider that Asian-Americans only make up 0.6% of California farm operators. Yet 15% of Californians are Asian-American. We’re not all kale crunching, chard chipping eaters. I want to grow food that people eat — that they know how to cook, delight in, and take comfort in.”
Check out their website and these articles about them and their work:
https://californiagrown.org/blog/meet-a-farmer-mai-nguyen-of-farmer-mai/
https://www.mochimag.com/arts-culture/sustainable-farming-with-mai-nguyen/
Mai Nguyen harvests wheat at their farm in Sebastopol in 2021. Sashwa Burrous
Loy, Kaneish, Mitchell, Mr. Porter, Ms Eva, and Amanda all have a wonderful selection of produce for us this week!
Kaneisha has watermelons, juices, possibly strawberries if the heat isn’t too much, and tomatoes. Loy has collards, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, onions, okra, cucumbers, WATERMELON (this is how he texted me this!), sweet potatoes, mangoes, and cantaloupe! Mr. Porter has containers of greens and strawberries, as well as other fresh fruits and vegetables already harvested. Mandy with Mandylandfun has some sunflowers and tomato starts and possibly herbs! Mitchell has buckwheat, and salad mix, red clover, alfalfa, sprouting jars, and plant starts for your garden as well! Ms. Eva is back from her winter break and she is bringing boiled peanuts and herbs! Dale from Cardinal Ridge Farms is back this week with pecans!
Don’t forget, this week is the week we have Macon Tennis with us! Robin Bateman with Macon-Bibb County Rec Centers is setting up with us for National Tennis Month! She has some really neat activities planned for us! I can hardly wait!
May has been quite busy! We have had several new vendors and several seasonal vendors return! We are also welcoming Sweet Rain Vegan Bakery this week! Let’s give them a warm welcome! Come grab a wonderful treat from them!
This week’s recipe is Watermelon Salad with Toasted Pecans
Watermelon is here for the summer! I love it by itself, but it really is amazing paired with some micros, pecans, and pepper jelly! Stop by Kaneisha or Loy for the watermelon, Dale for the pecans, Buckwheat for the salad mix, and Rosa Ray for the pepper jelly!
Thank you so much to everyone who supports this market! We are so incredibly grateful for all of you! Whether you are coming in the rain or the shine or both, we are thankful for the support you show us each week! Whether you have yet to make it to the market, but are sharing our information with others, thank you! We could not do this market without you, our community! We really do love to see each and everyone of you each week! We hope to see you tomorrow!
We are a partner market with Wholesome Wave Georgia to help make your dollars go further at our market!
Bring your SNAP/EBT card to the market tent to double your spending power!
We are always looking for more people to join our fun! If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a vendor at our market, follow the link below for our vendor application!
Just a hint of all the fun we have to offer! Come join us!