Evanston’s Indoor Farmers’ Market began its season Saturday with an intimate marketspace featuring a variety of vendors and a new SNAP benefits matching program.
The market will run every other Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. through April at the Evanston Ecology Center — located at 2024 McCormick Blvd. — following an almost two-year hiatus as the Ecology Center underwent renovations. It will alternate Saturdays with Immanuel Lutheran Church’s indoor market.
Over 200 people visited the market on its opening day, said Laura Nusekabel, a program coordinator at the Ecology Center. The number is an increase from prior years the market has been open, she said.
Nusekabel said the market received an abundance of vendor applications, but prioritized farm vendors, while also including booths for other local vendors, she added.
“We’re really excited to have a good mix this year of a lot of our farm vendors and then hot food vendors and then a variety of other local artisans,” she said.
Vendors sold seasonal produce, meats, fish, cheese and more, with some businesses returning to Evanston’s market while others set up their booths for the first time.
Hook Point Fisheries is one of the market’s weekly newcomers. The family business started at Evanston’s outdoor farmers’ market this summer, he said.
“It was our first year, so I think we started to develop those relationships with customers throughout the course of the season,” the business’ Farmers Market Manager Michael Riendeau said. “We have our regulars, and we’re still introducing our products to new customers.”
For Riendeau, the indoor market offers a different, more consistent rhythm than the outdoor market. Setting a stall up at the Ecology Center is a bit simpler than at the outdoor market, since vendors don’t have to worry about weather conditions or tent set ups, he said.
Since the fishing industry is seasonal, Riendeau said Hook Point Fisheries doesn’t have access to all of the same species as it does in the summer. So, the business will focus on its staples during the winter season, including sockeye salmon and halibut.
“As a team, the Hook Point crew is excited to settle into the indoor vibe, while is a little more mellow than the busyness of the outdoor (market),” Riendeau said.
Mike Vincent of Yoberri Gourmet, a business selling hand-crafted frozen yogurt and ice cream, noticed that the indoor market typically draws smaller crowds than the outdoor market.
Yoberri Gourmet has been a vendor at Evanston markets for four years, he said, and is a rotating vendor at this year’s indoor market.
“The outdoor (market) does draw a little bit more people to it, and it’s a little bit more of an experience where people hang out at the market,” Vincent said. “This one you kind of come in and grab your essentials and then go.”
New to the indoor market this year is a Link Up Illinois Link Match program, which matches community members’ SNAP benefits dollar-for-dollar.
Nusekabel said this year is the first time the program is offered at the indoor market. Community members with tokens or vouchers left over from Evanston’s outdoor market can use them at the indoor market, she said.
The program matches the amount community members choose to spend up to $25, meaning the program will allow qualifying customers to spend up to $50 at the market on fresh fruits and vegetables.
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