WELL-BEING MATTERS

Brought to you by Texas Health Community Hope

Well-Being Matters is an on-going series highlighting different members of our community and their strategies for improved well-being. Texas Health Community Hope engages in a broad range of innovative programs and collaborations outside hospital walls to promote a lifetime of holistic health and well-being. This month we meet Whitney Berry, Community Engagement Coordinator for Community Link, where she promotes health and wellness through three community farmers markets in Saginaw, Azle, and Lake Worth.

Q: Where did you start your journey?

A: I went to the University of Texas at Arlington to study public health. Wellness has been a lifelong journey for me and a priority for my lifestyle. I was a yoga instructor for several years. It’s about making a change in people’s health in a different way.

Q: Tell us about Community Link.

A: Community Link is a non-profit organization based in Saginaw, which started as a food pantry in a church closet. While still primarily a food pantry, we’ve grown to include case management – any need beyond food. We now have mental health counseling on a sliding fee scale.

Q: So the organization strives to affect food insecurity from a number of different angles?

A: It’s about helping to break barriers, to move people past the immediate need of not having food, to help address the cycle of poverty. It’s about sustainable access, for all of us to come together and have enough.

Q: To that end, Community Link started a farmers market in Saginaw at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

A: Saginaw is a tight-knit community, and this was something where we could all be outside. The market is a great place to introduce people to locally grown foods. We ensure that all our farmers offer produce grown within 150 miles of us. The city and the mayor are really involved and it’s a priority to showcase growers, makers, and bakers.

Q: You also learned that some people are starving for fresh produce, and they’ll come to an open-air stand to get some!

A: Our markets are open from March through December. We’ve considered going year ‘round but produce is reduced in the winter and the outside market isn’t conducive to harsh weather. We’re a rain or shine market. Our growers start picking and our sourdough vendors start their breads on Wednesdays, so we can’t be cancelling the market due to weather.

Q: Besides the need that we all have for connections, what other benefits does the market provide the community?

A: We’re in the game to build up the food system in this area. It takes a lot of preparation behind the scenes to get the perfect produce or perfect loaf to the market.

Q: Flash forward to 2024 – Community Link has three farmers markets now in northwest Tarrant County. And August 4-10 is National Farmers Market Week. What better way to celebrate than with a trip to a market!

A: We’re at Lake Worth and Azle on the first and third Saturdays of the month, and Saginaw on the second and fourth Saturdays from 8 am to noon. All of the markets are worth a visit, but I particularly like Azle. They have a really good water system, so the plants grow well there.

Q: You also work with Texas Health Community Hope to offer Double Up Food Bucks at the markets to people who receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Tell us about that.

A: All of Community Link’s farmers markets accept SNAP. Thanks to Texas Health, Double Up allows SNAP users to double their dollars for fresh produce — up to $30 a day. This increases access to healthy foods and benefits the local farmers.

Q: It also sounds like Community Link provides some extra benefits for the local growers, so you could say it’s a Double (up) win?

A: There’s a market fee of $20 fee that we waive for the growers. We also have a buyback program where the produce that isn’t sold at the market is bought and brought back to our Community Link pantry and distributed to our clients. This supports our local farmers and simultaneously feeds our community.

Q: Seasonal produce in Texas can be a challenge, although we have long spells when some items grow very well. But you use that as a learning experience?

A: It’s a hard balance to educate the average person about what’s in season and what can grow here. I had someone ask, “Where are the bananas?” There’s a great learning opportunity to talk about seasonality. We also have a kid’s Power of Produce (POP) Program, where we host organizations and activities to teach kids about farming, sustainability, and healthy eating.

Q: And it sounds like Community Link is having fun using the farmers market to build connections outside of the market space.

A: We held our first ever Night Market in June during the monthly Saginaw Concert series. It was a pop-up evening event for people who can’t come out Saturdays. All our vendors sold out in a couple of hours and the community came out in full force!