Assistant Market Manager job opening at the Fondy Farmers Market
learn about our nutritional programs
We have many events planned for this year. Click here for our calendar.
find out more

Fondy reopens the Saturday before Mothers Day
May 9, 2009
Come get your flowers for mom and all the annual seedlings you’ll need for your garden. Our starter plants and seedlings have been raised in greenhouses in Washington and Ozaukee Counties. They are acclimatized to Southeast Wisconsin’s cool springs and are “garden ready”. Ask our growers about the best times to plant each variety. They have lots of good growing tips to share with you. Market opens Saturdays only from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM through June 21st.

Opening Day Festival & BBQ Cook-off
Saturday June 27, 2009

Opening Day Festival 2008
Come celebrate the arrival of spring and the return of fresh fruits and veggies to Milwaukee. With more music, more dancing, more cooking drama, and more fun activities for your whole family, Fondy’s Opening Day Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Come Get Fresh with your Local Farmer!




Are you a devotee to the art of BBQ?
Our Opening Day Festival and 2nd Annual BBQ Contest will take place on Saturday, June 27th. Pit masters, it’s never too early to start organizing your team and perfecting your technique. We will have 2 categories: pork ribs and chicken. Grand prize in each category is $400.00. The first 25 approved applicants will be accepted.Click here for an application.

Due to space and popularity, the greens contest will be held on Saturday, July 25th. Come back later for more contest details and registration information.

Are you thinking about vending at Fondy this year?
We encourage new orchard and fruit growers, meat and dairy farmers, poultry farmers, cheese makers, greenhouse growers, artisan, bakers, and cooks making food from scratch to apply. To find out more about selling at Fondy Farmers Market in 2009, call our Market Manager, Jennifer, at 414-562.2282 to learn more.

Fondy Market is on TV!
Fondy's cooking-based nutrition education program, is broadcasted on MCM Channel 14:

2008 Episodes

2007 Episodes

2006 Episodes

Farm-to Fork Strategy promotes Fresh Food Access and the Local Economy
“The survival of our communities and all people is linked to the destiny of our food and our ability to feed ourselves. We know that food is medicine – not only for the body but also for the soul – and traditional foods and agriculture are key to restoring and maintaining good health and healthy ecosystems.” – Winona LaDuke

The Fondy Food Center (FFC) works to find lasting solutions to economic and health disparities in central Milwaukee through efforts that rebuild, renew and strengthen Southeast Wisconsin’s local food system. Our holistic "farm to fork" strategy encompasses growing, harvesting, selling, and cooking wholesome, nutritious locally grown food.

Solving Food System Inequalities through Access, Education & Income
Access
Fondy Farmers Market is the centerpiece of the agency’s efforts to promote access to wholesome food in central Milwaukee and beyond. May to November the market is home to 35 local farmers. As one of the largest producer-only markets in Southeastern Wisconsin, the market’s fundamental purpose is to provide the community with a place to buy fresh produce directly from producers in a congenial atmosphere and to provide producers with a direct market for their goods. Further goals include education about and support of regional sustainable agriculture. Fondy Food Center believes that small family farms are an essential component to growing a socially just, economically viable and environmentally sustainable local food systems. In operating the farmers’ market, our goal is to support small entrepreneurs and stimulate the local economy. We are committed to making educational and economic connections between urban residents and local farmers. To inquire about vending at the market, email the Market Manager jennifer.bottesi at gmail.com

Farmers form the backbone of the agency—local food comes from local farmers. All of Fondy’s farmers are small, family-owned ventures, many of which are woman or immigrant-owned and operated. Fondy developed the GrowRight Program to strengthen family-operated farming business by providing agricultural, business and marketing education. Market staffers conduct on-farm visits to learn about and address each farmer’s challenges and opportunities.

The Chef VIP Program is an essential component of GrowRight. Growers and food service entrepreneurs prosper when they connect; Chef VIP facilitates connecting and building relationships between the two parties. Throughout the market season, pricelists are emailed to restaurants, cafes, grocers, and other food service venues. If you own a restaurant, grocery or food service enterprise and are interested in finding out more or joining the Chef VIP program, please email us Lisa Kingery, Food and Nutrition Program Director, at lkingery at fondymarket.org

Education
Taste the Season is a live cooking demonstration workshop, held on Saturdays at the market. This energetic and interactive program introduces new fruits and vegetables to market customers, using recipes that highlight the best that Wisconsin farmers have to offer as well as reflect the cultural culinary diversity of Fondy shoppers and Milwaukee. The program is also taped at studios of MATA Community Media and broadcast on Milwaukee cable access TV. DVDs of the shows are shown continuously in the waiting rooms of area WIC and W-2 agencies.

Girls Chef Academy is a new cooking-based food system and nutrition education program for middle school-aged girls. With single parents heading 79% of the households in the agency’s service area, the responsibility of preparing meals often falls to the adolescent girls. Without education in home economics, food, nutrition or cooking, these girls tend to rely on expensive, unhealthy convenience foods. The goals of the program are to: 1) educate and motivate girls to eat a healthier, whole-food, plant-based diet; 2) engage in economical shopping and dietary habits that will improve the health of their families; 3) build cooking skills and confidence in their ability to prepare healthy, whole foods from scratch; and 4) introduce participants to the food system, it’s impact on their lives, and how they might positively effect change by supporting Milwaukee’s local food system.

Income
The market is one of two markets in Wisconsin to accept Wisconsin QUEST Cards in an EBT Program. Staff at the Fondy Farmers Market Information Booth will debit a customer-designated amount from a Quest card and exchange it for farmers market tokens. Just like money, the tokens can be spent freely at any of our farmers, bakers and spice food vendors’ stalls. The tokens never diminish in value or expire. The EBT Program is made available through wireless handheld card readers, developed by VeriFone Corporation and serviced by eFunds Corporation.

The Fondy Food Center’s Farm-to-Fork strategy provides the tools to Milwaukee’s central city residents to stretch their food dollars and take control of their food, their diets, and their health.

To arrange a tour of our market, please contact Young Kim, Executive Director.

Fondy Farmers Market: Rooted in the Community and Growing Every Day

When:
December - April: Closed for the season.
May 9 – June 20: Open Saturdays only 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
June 27 – October 31: Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays, Sundays 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Nov 7 – Nov 21: Open Saturdays only 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Where: 2200 West Fond du Lac Avenue, just north of North Avenue.
Map to Fondy Food Center