Broomfield Farmers' Market at Holy Comforter

Our History

In October 2010, members of the Green Team environmental stewardship ministry held a dinner to celebrate their work in addressing the church’s carbon footprint, and to plan future projects. At that dinner, one of the members of the team mentioned that Broomfield lacked a vibrant farmers’ market, and that the vacant one acre lot in front of the church would be a perfect spot for a market. That tiny seed of any idea quickly sprouted and blossomed.

A core group of volunteers initially embraced the idea, and were soon joined by a growing cadre of volunteers. The market opened on June 14, 2011 with 16 vendors, live music, and hundreds of shoppers. As word of the great vendors, freed entertainment, and friendly volunteers spread throughout the community, our market has quickly grown. In our second year, we averaged 40 vendors and welcomed between 750-950 shoppers each week.

We were even “elected” as Colorado’s Favorite Farmers’ market in an on-line poll conducted by the American Farmland Trust in 2012!

We are looking forward to another season of growth in 2014, and invite everyone to join us as visitors to our market, and as volunteers of this exciting outreach venture.

Mission

Since the outset, every part of our market has been guided by our mission:

“To create a destination in Broomfield for connecting residents with healthy food and local farmers; and a destination that demonstrates the stewardship commitment of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter.”

Healthy food and healthy landscapes are tightly interwoven. Farmers and ranchers throughout Colorado produce a cornucopia of healthy food, and provide the open space, wildlife habitat and other amenities that are integral to the quality of life we all enjoy. Connecting those small farmers and ranchers with customers through a farmers’ market setting strengthens the stewardship of the land, while helping to increase urban consumers’ access to healthy food products.

Jubilee Ministry

The Broomfield Farmers’ Market at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church at Hwy 287 and West 10th Avenue will has officially been designated as a Jubilee Ministry by the national Episcopal Church for its work in helping to bring healthy, locally-grown food to area residents, and especially to people in need. The National Episcopal Church created the Jubilee Ministry program two decades ago to support efforts across the nation and world to battle poverty and injustice.

The Diocese noted several factors in notifying Holy Comforter of the recognition, including:

• Donation of all market profits to community outreach

• Generous donations by market vendors to local food banks

• The market’s commitment to provide shoppers on SNAP food assistance with $1.50 in purchasing power for every $1.00 redeemed at the market

• Bringing healthy food to the community

• The role the market plays in serving as a welcoming community gathering place

Dedicated to Outreach

The Farmers’ Market is dedicated to community outreach in a variety of ways:

• SNAP shoppers received double the value of their benefits at the Broomfield farmers’ marketat Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. In other words, $10 in SNAP benefits provides access to $20 in fresh, locally grown food.
• As a volunteer-operated project, the market strives to operate as close as possible to break-even. But we also designate any revenues in excess of our operating costs to outreach within the community, or through the Diocese of Colorado. Accordingly, the farmers’ market provided $600 in a cash donation to Broomfield FISH from our 2011 operations. This year, the market is providing contributions to Broomfield Meals on Wheels and St. Benedict Health and Healing Ministry (which offers a free monthly health clinic for the poor).
• One of the cornerstone produce vendors at the market donates their unsold produce to Broomfield FISH at the end of each market day. In 2012, this resulted in two tons (4,000 lbs.) of fresh produce donated to Broomfield FISH.
• The market contains two 10’ x 10’ tents that are dedicated for use by Broomfield area non-profit organizations at no charge. In 2012, these stalls were utilized by the Master Gardeners, Broomfield Social Services, Boy Scouts, Healing Minds, and more than a dozen other organizations.
• Through a special project with Chipotle restaurants, the first 250 shoppers at our market on August 8 received coupons for $10 in free food from qualified vendors.
• The market offered free music each Tuesday, and hosted a number of activities during the season targeted toward families. Those activities included an inflatable bouncing castle, a hula hoop contest, a seed spitting contest, and other events. All of this was designed to establish the market as a community gathering place for families and friends.

We Double SNAP Benefits

This year, every SNAP shopper will receive double the value for the benefits they redeem at our market. We know that fresh, locally-grown food tends to be more expenses than the processed foods in retail stores, so we are stepping in to close that gap.

Be a Volunteer

We were founded by volunteers within the church of the Holy Comforter, but welcome everyone in the community to help us build this exciting market. We’d love to have you as a part of our team, and have a spot for everyone who wants to get involved.

Simply contact us at market@holycomforterchurch.net and will keep you notified of our planning meetings and events.