The Market Experience. This cookbook celebrates the Rochester Public Market’s 106 year history as a unique community resource, with recipes shared by farmers and vendors, shoppers and local chefs.  Uniquely flavoring the book are the stories such as the joy of fresh seasonal produce, meeting the farmers who grow our food, and learning how diverse cultures share love and caring through food.

This 8 1/2 by 11 inch full color cookbook features 100 pages of delicious recipes that showcase foods from the Market.  Each recipe is introduced with a brief “story” that tells this history of the recipe, or its connection to the Market.  Fabulous photos throughout the book provide a visual banquet of the Market and it’s wonderful food, and the farmers and vendors who provide them to us.

Enjoy

The purpose of the Market Cookbook is to provide funding support for the Market Token Program.  Established in 2008 by the Friends of the Rochester Public Market, this program is a simple solution to the complex problem of access to healthy and affordable food.  The Market Token program demonstrates that a “good idea” and a group of dedicated volunteers can change the world – in simple yet powerful ways.

The program is beautiful in its simplicity.  People with Food Stamp benefits purchase wooden Tokens which serve as Market money.  120 farmers and vendors accept them as cash, and then redeem them at face value.  Simple – yet effective!  In 2010 over 4,000 shoppers purchased $357,555 in Tokens, which are more Food Stamp sales than most state’s farmers markets!

The result is that many in our community are able to readily purchase affordable foods – and they eat healthier as a result!  Program evaluations reveal a significant increase in the consumption of fresh produce, with 73% of Token users reporting that they eat “a lot” more fruits and vegetables.  Shopping more frequently at farmers markets and eating more produce are great ways to improve health and wellbeing.

Thank you for helping the Friends of the Rochester Public Market to continue to provide such a needed program to our community!