Keene residents are invited to enjoy novelty games, shows, concessions, raffles, workshops, and locally produced desserts at the Peanut Carnival and Celebration of Local Food, on August 15th, 5:30pm – 8:30pm at the Keene Recreation Center park. The Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition has teamed up with the City of Keene to provide a family friendly event that is both fun and helps to familiarize residents with programs that help to make local food purchases affordable.
The Celebration of Local Food will offer: free raffles for $15 gift certificates to food trucks and more, fresh, locally grown food samples, pudding from Echo Farm Pudding, Ice Pops from Cheshire Garden, gelato from Frisky Cow Gelato, container garden workshops, takeaway seed pots for children and more.
Residents can learn more about “Granite State Market Match”(GSMM) -- a matching fund that enables SNAP recipients to "double up" their fruit and vegetable purchasing, and Double Up Food Bucks that offers 50% off fruits and vegetables (with your EBT card) at the Monadnock Food Coop.
Keene SNAP recipient, Chrissy Davis explains how one program affected food purchases -- “Thanks to GSMM, I doubled the amount of my fresh blueberry purchases and froze 9 pints to enjoy over the winter. Taking advantage of this program has provided me with a variety of affordable, fresh food I can eat now and throughout the year.”
Other resources are the Monadnock Farm Share program -- providing limited income residents with the opportunity to support local CSA farmers and receive reliable high-quality produce on a regular basis, all season long. The Community Kitchen gleaning program collects and harvests produce, and delivers it to the weekly pantry program and hot meals served at the Community Kitchen.
More information and resources will be available at the Celebration of Local Food booths and online at www.mfcommunitycoalition.org/foodaccess
Celebration of Local Food events are free except for some desserts. Tickets are bought and used in place of money for the Peanut Carnival. Please be aware this is a peanut-free event! Tickets are $2 per 25, or $4 per 75.
The Celebration of Local Food event is a collaboration of MFCC, Cheshire County Conservation District, Community Garden Connections, The Community Kitchen gleaning, C & S Wholesale Grocers, UNH Extension Nutrition Connections, and Healthy Monadnock.
Don’t miss out on one of the biggest events of the summer for families!
To find out more about the event visit www.mfcommunitycoalition.org/foodforallor Keene Parks and Recreation website, www.ci.keene.nh.us
