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| TOP Diane Russell of Russell Sheep Company talks with a customer at the Minnetrista Farmers Market. Her company is based in Eaton, Ind., about 16 minutes away from Minnetrista. BOTTOM LEFT A member of Alliance World Coffees writes down an order from a customer. The speciality coffee micro-roaster is located at 5601 W. Jackson St. in Muncie. BOTTOM RIGHT Cabbage sits at a vendor’s booth. The market is open every Saturday and Wednesday from April until October. DN PHOTOS ASHLEY DYE |
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Dozens of vendors filled the grounds at Minnetrista’s Cultural Center on Saturday, offering organic and local food options for Muncie residents.
Minnetrista hosts its Farmers Market each Saturday and Wednesday from April until October. The market opens at 8 a.m. and closes at noon Saturdays and is open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.
Many vendors, like Dawn Steffes, are passionate about local and organic products.
Steffes and her husband, Tom, own To Tend and To Keep Farm in Mooreland, Ind. They raise about 45 cattle and provide the local community with the option of grass-fed beef.
Steffes said there are several benefits to grass-fed beef over what people can buy at the supermarket, citing lower fat content and the lack of antibiotics.
“Feeding healthy animals means in the end, you have a healthy product to feed your family,” she said. “Our cows are strictly grass-fed.”
To Tend and To Keep Farm offers a variety of beef products including ground beef, different roast and steak options and other products, like oxtail and soup bones.
Although grass-fed beef is a little pricier than what a person would find at regular grocery stores, Steffes said she believes it’s worth it in the end.
“You’re going to pay one way or the other,” she said. “You can either pay for good quality food and grow a healthy body ... or you’re going to pay for a lot of medical later. It’s no free lunch; it’s going to cost you one way or another.”
Shannon McConnell, owner of Extra Ordinary Noodle Company, which started in Albany, Ind. also offers an alternative to a staple — pasta.
McConnell makes old-fashioned egg noodles in 34 different flavors, including roasted carrot, maple bacon, sweet potato and onion dill.
“A lot of people don’t have [a lot of] spices on hand, so you can take a traditional food, like an egg noodle, and add some flavor to it and make a unique meal,” he said.
McConnell originally began making noodles out of Fingerprints Bakery in Albany and expanded the noodle company into its own business.
He’s in the process of launching a Kickstarter program to expand the bakery. Extra Ordinary noodles are currently available Saturdays at the Farmers Market as well as at Manna From Heaven Cakery in Kokomo, Ind., and at the Albany bakery.
Other vendors, like My Dad’s Sweet Corn out of Tipton, Ind., allow some customers to pay for the product through the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.
The program allows eligible participants to use checks and coupons through WIC at farm stands and vendors that have been approved by the state.
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| Extra Ordinary Noodle Company sets up a booth at the Minnetrista Farmers Market. The noodle company is from Albany, Ind. DN PHOTO ASHLEY DYE |
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