Creekside Co-Op is excited to present Creekside Co-op Farmers Market at High School Park in downtown Elkins Park.  The farmers market is a “for all patron” venue, no membership required, all are invited to participate. We will open April 29th and will run until November 18th, weather permitting, (excluding June 3rd for the Arts in the Park Celebration).  Weather does play a part, but we will operate each Sunday come rain, come shine. In cases of extreme weather, we will notify the community via email and facebook to alert you of any changes.  

If you want to be a vendor and join our growing team click here.

 Key info:

• The market will host a variety of produce sellers, homemade jams and pastries, cofee, meats and eggs as well as cookies and pickles. We are also fortunate to have a few craft sellers - selling handcrafted items such as jewelry and pottery.
• Week to week vendors may vary, please be sure to sign up for our email list to be updated each week on which vendors will be present.
• The market is located in the paved circle at High School Park, (corner of High School Road and Montgomery Avenue).
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• Hours of operation are from 10am until 2pm each Sunday.  Parking is along High School Road and the parking  lot on Montgomery and Harrison Avenues. The market is within one block of the Elkins Park station on the SEPTA regional rail line. In addition, the Rte. 28 SEPTA bus line has a stop right in front of the farmers' market.
• Information tables will be set up for “The Friends of High School Park” and “Creekside Co-Op” for anyone who may wish to become a member.

 “Come out and enjoy the rebirth of spring and meet your neighbors.  Enjoy the fresh fare offered by local farmers and producers from around the community"

About Local Farming and your commitment to local!

Adopt a local farmer 

If you find a farmer you like, "adopt" him or her.

• Encourage your friends and neighbors to buy the farm's products.
• Invite the farmer over for a sustainable dinner party and ask them talk to your family and friends about what they do.
• Get your local supermarket to start carrying their products.
• Help get the word out about what good farmers they are!

Grow Your Own
Whether it's a plot in your backyard or a small window herb garden, growing your own food is a richly rewarding experience. Many towns have gardening classes, but it's easy to simply buy some seeds and experiment. You might even consider raising your own chickens for meat or eggs. The National Gardening Association has tips on getting started.

If you live in an urban area and don't have land to plant on, you can often find community gardens that offer plots in exchange for some volunteer time. Visit the American Community Gardening Association for more information. And once you grow all that great food, learn how tocan, freeze or preserve it.

Why buy local?
There are countless reasons why buying local food is both rewarding and delicious, including enjoying the taste of fresh food, improved health and nutrition, environmental stewardship,support for family farms and rural communities, and ensuring animal welfare.

There is also significant peace of mind in knowing where our food comes from. One of the biggest benefits to buying food locally is having someone to answer questions about how it was grown and raised. What goes into that loaf of bread? Can we be certain that the hog that is now bacon lived a life without suffering? How do we know those jalapeños are salmonella free?

Developing a relationship with local farmers gives us an "in" with our local food system. At farmers' markets we can get answers to questions like: When do tomatoes come into season? How might I use celeriac? Often, we can take a tour of the farm our food comes from. Some farmers are thrilled to share their knowledge and experience with their customers. Ask about the challenges your local farmers face and what they are doing to address them. It doesn't have to be complicated. Ask about the weather! Any farmer will be pleased to talk about how the growing season is going and how that affects the food they grow. Knowing local farmers can go a long way to simplifying buying local.

Another significant reason to buy local is to keep food miles to a minimum. "Food miles" refer to the distance a food item travels from the farm to your home. The food miles for items in the grocery store are, on average, 27 times higher than the food miles for goods bought from local sources.¹

In the U.S., the average grocery store's produce travels nearly 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator.² About 40% of our fruit is produced overseas and, even though broccoli is grown all over the country, the broccoli we buy at the supermarket travels an average of 1,800 miles to get there. Notably, nine percent of our red meat comes from foreign countries, some as far away as Australia and New Zealand.³

Our food is trucked across the country, hauled in freighter ships over oceans, and flown around the world. A tremendous amount of fossil fuel is burned to transport foods such long distances, releasing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and other pollutants that contribute to global climate change, acid rain, smog and air and sea pollution. The refrigeration required to keep our fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats from spoiling during their long journeys burn up even more fossil fuel. In contrast, local and regional food systems produce 17 times less CO2.⁴

Economics of local
The significant difficulties of earning a living wage as a farmer are often masked by headlines about subsidies and record high crop prices. In reality, farmers are earning less producing crops these days than they did in 1969, despite the fact that American farmers have almost doubled productivity over the past four decades. Farmers aren't just earning less, current prices do not even cover the cost of production. Until just recently the difference between farm income nationwide and what it cost to grow and raise American crops could be counted in the billions.⁵To make ends meet, and often to get health insurance, more than half of American farmers work a second off-farm job.⁶

Buying locally or directly from farmers can dramatically increase a farmer's income. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardener's Association published a study that demonstrates what would happen if consumers shifted 1% of their purchasing power to buy locally grown products: farmers would see a gain of 5% in their income.⁷ Even better, buying direct from a farmer sends 90% of those food dollars back to the farm.⁸ Increasing farm income means more money can be spent locally by the farmer to run their business and home, helping keep the local economy alive.

Annually, Americans consume more than $600 billion⁹ in food. In most communities today food is purchased entirely at a grocery store or market, with only about 7% of local food dollars staying in the community.¹⁰ The other 93% of the modern food dollar travels to pay processors, packagers, distributors, wholesalers, truckers and the rest of the infrastructure that a global food system demands, a stark comparison to 40% in 1910 by contrast, 40% of food dollars spend remained in the local economy.¹¹ When more food dollars stay in the community, through buying local, they are transformed into thriving main streets and local jobs.