Children learn healthy eating, math

BOWLING GREEN — It was a peach of a day for the Anderson family at the downtown farmers market.

With $2 tokens in tow, Audrey, 9, Morris, 7, and Mawer, 4, got to select their own produce, buy it, and — of course! — eat it. They all picked peaches.

The first POP (Power of Produce) Club started Wednesday at the market, which is hosted weekly by Work Leads to Independence.

Stacie Anderson said her children are excited about the produce club.

“It’s a great program to get kids coming and families coming to the farmers market, and hopefully encourages them to try new foods,” she said.

The market provides $2 tokens for each child, who may buy fruits and vegetables with them. The goal of the program is to encourage children to eat healthy, teach them how to buy the produce, and introduce them to farmers, said Lori Hines, who organizes the farmers market.

Some of the produce choices at the market, which is early in the season, were tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, strawberries, onions, lettuce, and radishes.

Peaches were also the preference for the Swartz family, who come from McClure, Ohio, to the market weekly, said mom, Cassandra.

Tessa, 8, Elsie, 7, and Everett, 5, pooled their coins together to buy six peaches.

“What a way to inspire kids to eat fruits and vegetables,” Ms. Swartz said. “And it gives them autonomy over it, choosing what they want to buy.”

John Riehm, with Riehm Produce Farm LLC, based in Old Fort, Ohio, said the produce program is ingraining healthy habits. Dozens of children lined up for the peaches at his booth, which also had beets, rhubarb, and asparagus.

“It brings in bunches and bunches of mothers with their kids. It’s teaching the kids how to spend money, and how to buy good food,” he said.

Children may also save their tokens from week to week, or pool them together to make a purchase.

“If they want to buy a $6 watermelon, they’ll have to save their coins for three weeks,” Ms. Hines said.

Power of Produce is for children ages 5 to 12, accompanied by an adult.

This program is sponsored by the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club, which gave the farmers market a $1,000 grant. Ms. Hines said it will be used to reimburse the vendors for the tokens turned in by children.

Jason Miller, who is the Kiwanis secretary, said the club’s mission is to support programs and projects that help youth.

“This is such a neat idea because it has a lot of unintended consequences,” Mr. Miller said of the farmers market token program. “There’s so many different aspects to this that families are going to take advantage of.”

It promotes families talking about healthy eating and children learning math skills, among other things, he said.

The club’s mission is to change the world one child and community at a time, said Mr. Miller, who is also the governor of the Kiwanis Ohio District. The farmers market program is a great fit for that mission, he said.

The Bowling Green farmers market runs each Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the corner of South Main and Clough streets through Oct. 16. Families can get tokens at the Work Leads to Independence booth at the east end of the market area.

Ms. Hines said the market keeps growing; it had 18 vendors at a peak last year, and this year already has 32. Over 200 people visit each Wednesday, she said.

Work Leads to Independence, which serves adults with developmental disabilities, took over the market operations in 2021.

Some of the items for sale include meat, eggs, microgreens, honey, syrup, breads, cookies, kettle corn, jams and jellies, flower bouquets, plants, flowers, coffee blends, pastries, candles, soaps, crafts, and jewelry. Food trucks are also on site, along with live music.

For more information, visit WLI’s Farmers’ Market on Facebook at facebook.com/​BGFarmersMarket.

Contact Debbie Rogers at

drogers@theblade.com.