Locavore Challenge
July 4, 2019
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July 22 – 28, 2019 The Challenge: To ONLY eat food that has been grown within a 100-mile radius of your home. This includes breakfast,
Farmacy
The Farmacy is a partnership between AdkAction and Keeseville Pharmacy, which serves as a model for bringing healthy local food to rural communities. The second Farmacy location will be announced in May, 2019!
Making it easy to find, buy, and eat local.
The Farmacy is a project that began in 2017 to increase food access in Keeseville, where there are high levels of food insecurity. In 2013, Mac’s Market in Keeseville closed down. As a result of this closure, residents were left with the choice to drive to Peru or Plattsburgh for groceries or buy processed foods from one of many convenience and dollar stores in the community. The Farmacy is a unique non-profit/for-profit partnership between AdkAction and the Keeseville Pharmacy that was formed with the mission of increasing accessibility of local, healthy food to all residents of Keeseville. While some rural communities, such as Keeseville, cannot sustain a traditional year-round grocery store, this business model provides another option whereby an existing business incorporates a farm grocery section into its storefront. This allows access to groceries without incurring the operating costs of opening and operating a new store.
The goal of this business model is to reduce the risk of food insecurity by providing healthy grocery options, as well as the tools and education to properly prepare and consume them. To increase awareness and education around using local foods, the Farmacy has hosted community cooking classes, onsite tasting events, weekly recipes, and incentive programs to remove obstacles to healthy cooking with local ingredients. Dan Bosley, the owner of the Keeseville Pharmacy, has adopted the slogan “Good Health Starts at the Table”, with that belief that food is a tool for good health. The Keeseville “Farmacy” also accepts SNAP benefits, and will be accepting WIC benefits soon. In 2019, AdkAction will replicate this mixed use business model to another location within Essex County, as well as continue to expand on the existing “Farmacy” in Keeseville.
Our Impact
1
Number of local farmers selling products in the Farmacy
1
Number of different products offered
1
cooking class participants
$ worth of free food incentives distributed
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Related News and Events
Blog
AdkAction Awarded Generous Acts Program Grant to support Farmacy Project
May 1, 2019
AdkAction has been awarded a grant from Adirondack Foundation’s Generous Acts Program to remove barriers that prevent low-income residents from eating healthy, local food.
Blog
Increasing Access to Local Food – Teaching WIC families to make salad dressing from scratch
July 2, 2019
In an effort to increase healthy cooking education and local agricultural awareness, AdkAction and Essex County Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) teamed up to present
Blog
Farmacy Project to Expand: New Equipment, Additional Site, Cooking Classes Planned for 2019
December 30, 2018
KEESEVILLE — A small farm store located inside Keeseville Pharmacy is about to get a major boost, thanks to an Innovation Grant from Adirondack Health
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Help us support farmers while creating conditions for healthier communities.
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