Play With Your Food: Engaging Families and Youth at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market
Ginny Barnard
Executive Director
LiveWell Douglas County
A walk through the Lawrence Farmers’ Market in late summer provides a feast for the senses – aroma of just-picked tomatoes, a rainbow of
carrots, fresh baked products to taste, handmade crafts to touch and the sounds of local musicians. But this season you might have also noticed a new opportunity for younger visitors. Play With Your Food was a new children’s program offered at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market twice a month. It focused on providing three experiential learning activities – Explore, Learn, and Taste. “Combined, these activities are designed to get children excited about the farmers’ market, learn how their food grows and gets to their table at home, and have an opportunity to taste a new fruit or vegetable,” according to Emily Brinkman, Play With Your Food Program Coordinator.
Creating a family-friendly farmers’ market environment is important to Emily Lysen, Director of Development for the Lawrence Farmers’ Market. “We really want children to enjoy visiting the market and hope it’s something families look forward to every week.” The mission of the Lawrence Farmers’ Market is to provide children and adults with access to locally grown foods and farm products. For families receiving SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, the market offers Double Up Food Bucks – up to $25 of SNAP benefits are matched, so families can purchase more fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs. 
Emily Brinkman created the Play With Your Food program as part of her Master of Public Health coursework through the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She worked in partnership with Emily Lysen, Director of Development for the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, and Kaitlyn Peine, Community Health and Wellness Agent for K-State Research and Extension Douglas County. Funding for the program was provided by a Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant through LiveWell Douglas County.
“I was surprised how much the kids loved the activities! During the second week of the program, the children planted bean seeds. A few weeks later, a little boy came back to the market to tell me how big his bean plant was and told me all the steps he was doing to take care of his plant.” – Emily Brinkman, Play With Your Food Program Coordinator
