Faith in Place Winter Farmers Markets ~ Host Site Overview and Application 1 Faith in Place Winter Farmers Markets Host Site Overview and Application 2018-2019 Season Linking issues of food and faith • Connecting consumers to growers • Expanding Community Overview for Potential Host Sites 2018-2019 Market Season Please read this section carefully before completing the application for host faith communities. Purpose of the Markets Each year, Faith in Place partners with faith communities in the Chicagoland area to bring locally and sustainably-produced food to their communities during the winter months through a series of one-time winter farmers markets. These farmers markets: Provide an additional source of income for local farmers during the off-season. Promote sustainable farming methods and education about the local food movement. Encourage healthy, wholesome eating for people of all income levels, ethnicities, and races. Support the building of relationships between producers and consumers. We make a commitment to social justice in our programming by supporting and welcoming diverse audiences, especially the Winter Farmers Markets. Our two goals for these markets are 1) to promote equitable access to healthy, local food options for all communities, and 2) to support local farmers engaged in sustainable agriculture. An additional benefit for host faith communities is that the markets bring new individuals through their doors and allow houses of worship to strengthen their presence in the community. Publicity Publicity is central to a successful market. While the host site is ultimately responsible for publicizing within the local community, Faith in Place will assist by providing the following: 1.) Electronic publicity packet including: full page flyers, half page flyers, sample bulletin announcements, suggestions for social media, a sample press release, and more. 2.) Publicizing markets through our e-Blast system to our Winter Farmers Market email list of over 2000 people. 3.) Market details on our website’s events page. 4.) Market details on our Local Harvest page.
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Faith in Place Winter Farmers Markets ~ Host Site Overview and Application
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Faith in Place Winter Farmers Markets
Host Site Overview and Application 2018-2019 Season
Linking issues of food and faith • Connecting consumers to growers • Expanding Community
Overview for Potential Host Sites 2018-2019 Market Season
Please read this section carefully before completing the application for host faith communities.
Purpose of the Markets
Each year, Faith in Place partners with faith communities in the Chicagoland area to bring locally
and sustainably-produced food to their communities during the winter months through a series of
one-time winter farmers markets. These farmers markets:
Provide an additional source of income for local farmers during the off-season.
Promote sustainable farming methods and education about the local food movement.
Encourage healthy, wholesome eating for people of all income levels, ethnicities, and races.
Support the building of relationships between producers and consumers.
We make a commitment to social justice in our programming by supporting and welcoming diverse
audiences, especially the Winter Farmers Markets. Our two goals for these markets are 1) to
promote equitable access to healthy, local food options for all communities, and 2) to support
local farmers engaged in sustainable agriculture. An additional benefit for host faith communities
is that the markets bring new individuals through their doors and allow houses of worship to
strengthen their presence in the community.
Publicity
Publicity is central to a successful market. While the host site is ultimately responsible for
publicizing within the local community, Faith in Place will assist by providing the following:
announcements, suggestions for social media, a sample press release, and more.
2.) Publicizing markets through our e-Blast system to our Winter Farmers Market email list
of over 2000 people.
3.) Market details on our website’s events page.
4.) Market details on our Local Harvest page.
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5.) A Season Overview & Marketing Training Session in the fall prior to the start of the
season. – highly suggested, date TBD
6.) Promoting the market on our Social Media.
6.) Sending a banner to you at least 1 week before the market date (please provide a home
address in application below). Home addresses ensure the banner will be less likely to get
lost in the mail or not delivered on time. Please display the banner outside your house of
worship building in a prominent location.
7.) Two sandwich board signs to be displayed outside on the sidewalk near entrances on
the day of the market.
8.) Depending on market location, we may advertise through Local Beet and other
publications.
Faith in Place can offer ideas, strategies, and support. It is absolutely essential that you post
plenty of flyers (at least 50) in local businesses, community spaces, or in your neighborhood.
Consider organizing a Farmers Market “Flyering Day” where people from your faith community go
out in pairs to post flyers and come back together afterward to enjoy some refreshments. A best
practice is to target shops you know, particularly ones that have community boards.
Tap into ecumenical, judicatory, and local secular circles for publicity outlets. Not only can they
help expand publicity, but they can support the market with their own attendance. Remember,
these markets are not only for the faith community that is hosting – they are for everyone.
Publicize in as many circles as you can outside of your house of worship – foot traffic will
dramatically increase if you do, increasing market sales and the potential for outreach for your
faith community.
Here’s a list of even more ways to publicize a farmers market, both within your house of worship and in the wider community: This first section lists highly recommended marketing steps:
Print announcements in the bulletins, programs, and/or newsletters and make announcements during services.
Send email notices to your faith community’s listserv. Co-host Faith in Place’s WFM Facebook events and invite participants to RSVP. Also post
announcements on your faith community’s website and Facebook/Social Media pages. Ask other houses of worship to include an announcement in their bulletins, newsletters,
and/or websites.
Invite local reporters to attend your market and send press releases to local newspapers, especially if they’ll publish them online (or in print) for free. Faith in Place provides press releases in its Publicity Packet, but you may also write your own.
Put an announcement in the neighborhood/Alderman newsletter.
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Post flyers throughout the building and in the community at local businesses, community spaces, the library, coffee shops, and especially the Social Security Administration & other local aid offices etc.
These are additional suggestions:
Set up an informational table before or after services. Publish listings in online events calendars. Distribute half- or quarter-page flyers at a community event. Ask your local radio station or cable TV channel to air free PSAs (Public Service
Announcements) provided in the Faith in Place Publicity Packet. Drop information into mailboxes around the neighborhood. Have your clergy person invite other clergy and faith communities in your area, especially
ecumenical/inter-faith circles of which they are members.
Ask the Chicago-area judicatory, diocese, denomination etc. to which you belong to publish
the event on their social media and websites.
Publicize in your faith community’s organizational networks.
About six weeks before your market, we will send you electronic copies of flyers to print and
distribute. If you choose to design your own flyer or postcard, please run it by us before printing!
We may have suggestions about wording or visuals. We want the public to be excited about all the
delicious food and other items they’ll find at the winter market, but we also want to manage
expectations so that people aren’t disappointed when they don’t find a bounty of fresh fruits and
vegetables. It’s also vital to let people know that we accept LINK and offer LINK Match (more on
that below). Please include the Faith in Place logo (just ask us to send it to you).
We’re often asked how many people we expect to have at a successful market. In general, we aim
for 250 to 300 people. However, a market with an attendance of less than 175 can be successful if
everyone who attends is really there to shop. The important thing to remember is that our markets
must be inviting, community gathering spaces so that households experiencing food insecurity
have equitable access to healthy, local foods and so the local farmers and vendors we support can
generate a stable income during the winter months. The more people who attend and shop at the
market, the better we can achieve this!
Physical Space & Set-up
All Faith in Place markets take place indoors. We take the following into account when considering
whether a house of worship’s space is suitable for a market:
The room should be large enough to accommodate approximately 15 vendors using at
least one 8-foot table each without crowding. You don’t want to overcrowd the space, as
that will make the market uncomfortable for vendors and attendees. Nor do you want too
much extra room, as that can leave attendees feeling a bit lost.
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A market location that has proximity to parking – vendors and customers will need it. A
parking lot is ideal, because certain vendors have large vehicles. Insufficient parking will
limit vendor variety. However, street parking can work, especially if you clear it with your city
government ahead of time and obtain a parking ordinance.
It is best to hold the market on the ground floor and keep the number of stairs between the
market space and the unloading spot to a minimum. In addition to making the market
accessible to all, vendors come with goods to sell that can be quite heavy.
It is highly preferable to have all vendors located in one room to ensure that all vendors can
be easily seen.
Site visit and site drawing: A Faith in Place staff member may request to visit the host site several
months or weeks prior to the market to meet with the Farmers Market Leadership Team and do a
walk-through of the room where the market will be held. If you are hosting a market for the first
time, the market manager may want to visit the site during the application process and, if accepted,
closer to the market date for logistical planning.
After the logistical meeting, the market manager from Faith in Place will create a site drawing that
indicates where tables should be set up and which vendor will be assigned to each table. We take
several factors into consideration when creating the site drawing – for instance, the number of
tables each vendor needs and which vendors need to be near electrical outlets to plug in freezers
or scales.
The site drawing will be sent via email to the market committee during the week prior to the market
so that volunteers from your faith community can set up the room at least a day in advance.
Vendors will arrive early on the morning of the market, so tables must be set up ahead of time! The
local health department may also require a copy of the site drawing (more on health departments
below).
Tables: In general, the host site provides rectangular tables for the vendors (8ft and 6ft tables are
preferred) and, if there’s enough space, additional round tables or card tables with chairs to be
placed in the center of the room for customers. A 6- or 8-ft. rectangular table is also needed for our
EBT/LINK machine (more on that later) and to display Faith in Place educational materials about
local foods, CSAs, community gardens, and other environmental issues. Faith in Place staff will
work with the host site on how best to situate this table. Usually, it’s near the market’s main
entrance.
If the host faith community cannot provide tables, the Faith in Place market manager will
coordinate with vendors to make sure that enough of them can bring their own tables on the day of
the market. A market with 15 vendors typically requires about 18 rectangular tables, since some
vendors need more than one.
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Volunteer Requirements for Host Sites
Volunteer support is an important part of your market. Successful markets are executed by a team
of many people, rather than alone. Each group of volunteers outlined below may or may not
include the same people (that is for your faith community to decide), but it is important that each
group is represented throughout the market’s planning and execution.
Farmer’s Market Leadership Team: A market should have a market leadership team consisting of
3-5 people. This team will meet regularly and work with Faith in Place on logistical planning,
market vision, coordinating publicity, etc. Faith in Place recommends that this team be a part of
your faith community’s Green Team and include representation from appropriate clergy. Each
Farmers Market Leadership Team must:
Internally designate 2 people to act as primary contacts for Faith in Place staff.
Have a team member present during the market (from set-up to tear-down) at all times,
though you can rotate.
Track all volunteer hours on the tracking sheet provided by Faith in Place.
Supplementary volunteer support is highly recommended for the teams listed below.
Pre-Market Set-Up: The host faith community should provide a team of volunteers to set up the
market space at least one day before the market, as per the floor plan (mentioned above).
Day-Of-Market Volunteers: The host faith community should provide at least 4-6 (or more!)
volunteers to help vendors load and unload their cars and trucks at the beginning and end of the
market. This team should be composed of people who are able to do some heavy lifting. Youth
groups from the House of Worship, Girl Scout/Boy Scout Troops, and even high schoolers are
fantastic resources if you struggle to find set-up/tear-down volunteers.
Vendors will arrive to begin setting up as early as 2 hours before the market opens, so volunteers
should be there at that time as well. Prep for a 9am market starts at 7am; a 10am market – 8am.
Volunteers helping with break down at the end of the market should expect to help for about an
hour – less if the tables don’t need to be put away. Some vendors travel with their own hand-
trucks, but any dollies or hand-trucks your faith community can provide will be helpful.
Publicity Volunteers: The faith community must provide a team of people to accomplish the
various publicity tasks planned by the Farmers Market Leadership Team. This can include but is
not limited to the suggestions listed in the Publicity section above.
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Scheduling a Market Date
Pending a potential host site’s acceptance, Faith in Place will work with the Farmers Market
Leadership Team to schedule a date, time, and location for the market. The market will be held on
either Saturday or Sunday. If hosting a market for the first time, we strongly suggest that the
market be scheduled on whichever day the faith community’s main worship services are
scheduled, if religious practices permit. This is a way to ensure foot traffic for a faith community’s
first market. Faith in Place will also only schedule one market at each location per year.
Partnerships
We recommend that faith communities consider partnering with other interested local faith
communities, especially if they are first-time hosts. Partnerships expand the customer base,
expand the publicity potentials, and are a great way to share the work of hosting a market and build
relationships among faith communities. Faith in Place staff is happy to connect hosts to nearby
Houses of Worship that are in our network if your faith community wants support.
While deciding which house of worship would be the best physical host for the market, please
consider room size and accessibility, availability of electrical outlets, proximity to public transit,
parking availability, etc. Faith in Place can also help you decide which location is best for the
market.
If partnering, please provide one person from each faith community as Faith in Place’s primary
contacts. Faith communities applying as partnerships are considered one market and only one
market will be scheduled.
Vendors
Vendors at the farmers markets sell meats, honey, winter-available produce, bread and baked
goods, salsas, soaps and beauty products, hand-spun yarn, and a variety of other farm-related
goods. There are typically 10-15 vendors at each market, and food vendors are prioritized.
A note about product availability: We do our best to schedule a diverse group of vendors who are
selling a wide range of products. However, we can’t always ensure that people will find exactly
what they’re looking for at the market. One of the challenges of running winter farmers markets is
that produce is very limited or may be unavailable. We do our best to have produce at the markets,
but sometimes it just isn’t feasible because of the winter weather! When publicizing the market,
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we try to avoid implying that specific items will definitely be available, since vendors may cancel
at the last minute due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances.
Faith communities are welcome to invite members of their community or others to inquire with us
about being vendors at the market. Please refer anyone who is interested in selling goods at the
market to the Faith in Place staff so that we can ensure that they meet our vendor requirements.
Summary of Vendor Requirements: All vendors are required to sign our vendor agreement, which
outlines our vendor requirements in detail. The primary requirements are as follows:
a) All vendors must have comprehensive liability insurance and the appropriate licenses.
b) Farm vendors may only sell products grown or raised on farms located within 250 miles
of Chicago. Non-farm vendors must use locally-produced items for at least 25% of their
ingredients. (The exception is fair trade coffee, fair trade chocolate, and tea.)
c) Each vendor pays a fee of 10% of the day’s sales provided that their gross sales for the
day exceed $150. This fee will be used by Faith in Place to offset the cost of running the
farmers market. Non-profit organizations are exempt from the 10% requirement.
Coffee: Some faith communities regularly sell fair trade coffee and chocolate after services or at
other functions and choose to have a booth for fair trade coffee and chocolate at the farmers
market. Also, some faith communities choose to sell or give away cups of hot coffee at the market.
Please be sure to indicate this in your application.
Health Department Regulations
This section applies only to houses of worship located outside of the City of Chicago. Farmers
markets held within the City of Chicago are not subject to health department inspections or permit
requirements.
While the health department regulations are different in each suburb and village, most require at
least some vendors to apply for a temporary event food vendor permit. Faith in Place staff will
work with vendors to ensure that those who need permits have applied by the deadline and paid
the appropriate health department fee (if required). In some cases, the primary contacts from the
Farmers Market Leadership Team will also be required to submit an application to the local health
department or municipality, but we have had rare instances where the organizer is required to pay a
fee. Since the farmers markets are co-organized by the host faith community and Faith in Place,
our staff will work with you to complete the required paperwork.
Some city/county health departments have fees that make it cost-prohibitive for vendors to
participate in a market. Unfortunately, we must take that into consideration when selecting market
host sites.
Faith communities who are selling fair trade coffee, chocolate, and/or baked goods at the farmers
market may or may not be required to apply for a food vendor permit. Faith in Place will work with
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you to determine what is required. You will be responsible for notifying us of your desire to seel
these products and for paying the health department fee, if there is one. It is usually discounted or
waived for non-profit organizations.
In some cases, the local health department will want to inspect the farmers market before it opens,
or during the event. Most of our vendors have been through health department inspections many
times before and are well prepared.
Illinois LINK Cards
Part of our commitment to social justice, we are very happy to be able to accept Illinois LINK Cards
at our farmers markets!
What is LINK? The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program
previously referred to as “food stamps.” Federal benefits from this program are administered by
each state, and in Illinois the program is referred to as “LINK.”
It’s important to include “LINK Accepted” on all flyers and announcements, since this lets Link
users know that they can use their benefits to purchase food at the farmers market.
How does it work? Faith in Place has an EBT machine for processing LINK payments. The EBT
machine will be located at the Faith in Place table, and Faith in Place staff will handle all
LINK/SNAP transactions.
If your faith community is planning to sell fair trade items at the market, keep in mind that
LINK/SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy food for immediate consumption, only prepackaged
items like sealed bags of coffee or bars of chocolate. When a customer pays with Link, the money
is deposited into Faith in Place’s account. We will reimburse you for all LINK sales either with cash
immediately after the market or with a check mailed the following week.
LINK Match Program: Thanks to a grant from Experimental Station, we were able to offer LINK
Match – a program that matches the first $25 a customer spends using LINK on any food item at
our markets with coupons to purchase fruits and vegetables – at all our markets during the 2017-
18 season. The matching funds allow the customer to take home twice as much food while still
paying the farmers/vendors for their goods.
Please let us know if your faith community is interested in raising funds to further sponsor this
program. Donations from your faith community could either be used at a market that you host or
be applied toward a market in a community that has more LINK users.
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Other Ideas for a Fun & Successful Market
The more you create a welcoming and festive atmosphere at your farmers market, the more likely
people are to attend and shop for local foods, while enjoying fellowship with the community.
Music: In the past, some faith communities have invited members of a local jazz or bluegrass band
to play background music for tips for an hour or two. As long as the musicians are not playing too
loud for conversation, this can be a great way to create a festive atmosphere for everyone and
support local artists!
Children’s Activity Area: Since the 2017-18 season, we have offered a children’s table with
vegetable coloring pages and a vendor passport game at nearly all our markets. Setting up a
children’s area with crafts, activities, and games makes parents more likely to attend. We welcome
your ideas to further develop activities around a healthy foods theme.
Cooking Demonstrations: Invite a local chef to provide cooking demonstrations using ingredients
procured from the vendors. This is a great way to help people in the community learn how to use
local, seasonal ingredients to eat healthy and sustainably.
Please let us know if you would like assistance in planning any of the above or if you have another
creative ideas.
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Application for Potential Host Sites
Return completed application to Faith in Place by mail (70 E Lake, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60601) or email
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Name:
Primary Phone Number: ☐ Cell ☐ Home
Secondary Phone Number: ☐ Cell ☐ Home
Email Address:
Faith Community:
Farmers Market Leadership Team
List the names and direct email addresses for those individuals on the Leadership Team. We recommend having a team of at least 2 to 4 people working with you.
Name (and faith community if partnering): Email:
Volunteers
List estimated number of volunteers available for each of the following. We strongly recommend a team of at least 4-6 for each.
Publicity Team (2-4 weeks before market):
Setting up tables (during week before market):
Helping vendors unload before the market (2 hours prior):
Helping vendors load cars & breaking down tables after the market (1-2 hours after):
Fair Trade Coffee Sales
Please select ALL that apply:
☐ We will sell prepackaged fair trade coffee and other items at the market
☐ We will sell cups of hot coffee at the market
☐ We will provide free cups of hot coffee at the market
☐ We prefer not to have coffee at the market
Scheduling Considerations
Top two preferred months (Nov – March):
Preferred day (check one) Note: We strongly encourage first-time markets to be held on
worship service day ☐ Saturday ☐ Sunday
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If a worship service will be held on the day you selected, please list service times and approximate attendance at each below so that we can determine the best time for the market. Markets held on non-service days will be from 9 am – 1 pm (often Saturdays), 10 am – 2 pm (often Sundays).
Service time(s): Approx. attendance at each:
Market Host Building Information
If partnering, which house of worship will physically host the market?
Describe parking available for market attendees and vendors at market location. Street parking or parking lot? How close is the parking lot to your building? How many parking spots are available?
Proximity to public transit:
Major intersections:
Is there a prominent place outdoors to hang a 6 x 2 ft. banner (provided by Faith in Place)?
Size of room(s) where market will be held (e.g. 60 ft. x 35 ft.):
Number of tables you can provide: 8ft: 6ft: Round: Card tables:
Number of hand-trucks or dollies you can provide:
How many stairs to the room where the market will be held? Is there a ramp?
If the market will not be held on the first floor, is there an elevator?
Number of electrical outlets in the room where the market will be held:
Additional building information:
Publicity
The best way to publicize a market is to put up flyers around your neighborhood in coffee shops, stores,
restaurants, public libraries and community centers. Please plan to post 50 - 75 flyers (or more!) in your
neighborhood. Faith in Place will provide a flyer design, or you may create your own. If you decide to
create your own, please share it with Faith in Place staff before printing.
*In addition to posting flyers, please provide a detailed list of at least 5 specific ways you plan to publicize
the market on the lines on the next page.
Examples include: “We plan to get in touch with our monthly meeting of 8 houses of worship in our city to
find allies in promoting the market.” Please see the bullet points below and page 2 for additional publicity
suggestions.
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Print announcements in the bulletins or programs
Make announcements during services
Set up an informational table before or after services
Post flyers throughout the building, especially entrances
Send email notices to the faith community’s list-serve
Post announcements on the faith community’s website and Facebook page
Send notices to local newspapers for publication online or in print
Ask other houses of worship to include an announcement in their bulletins, newsletters and/or websites
Request PSAs on the local radio station or cable channel
Distribute half- or quarter-page flyers at a community event
I have read the Winter Farmers Market Overview and this Application in its entirety, and understand my
faith community’s responsibilities regarding publicity, volunteers, and site set up if our faith community is
selected to host a market. (If completing this form electronically, typing your name will serve as a
