In May, A Greater Applegate debuted a pilot mobile market, popping up pre-season at the Applegate Evening Market location at The Lindsay Lodge, featuring Applegate Made and Grown products. The pilot is giving our team an opportunity to learn what it takes to operate a mobile market, work out the logistics, and gather feedback from growers, producers, and customers.
The trailer, with its red and white striped awning, is affectionately named Liz Trailer and is pulled by MERV, the Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle. The names are a playful nod to the famous duo Merv Griffin and Elizabeth Taylor. Together, MERV and Liz are creating another way for Applegate growers and producers to reach customers in and beyond the valley.
In July, Liz took a trip to the Talent Evening Market, bringing Applegate Made and Grown products to a neighboring community. Liz will return for the market’s season finale on Friday, August 28, giving shoppers another chance to purchase fresh produce, frozen meats, cut flowers, bread, honey, herbs and other products from the Applegate Valley.
In September, Liz will head to Jacksonville for the inaugural Rogue Flavor Showcase at Bigham Knoll on September 5. Hosted by the Rogue Valley Food System Network, the event will bring together local farms, food artisans, beverage makers, chefs and other producers to celebrate the flavors and agricultural heritage of the Rogue Valley. Liz’s appearance will offer another opportunity to introduce Applegate producers to customers beyond the valley and connect them with the broader regional food community. Please come!
For producers, getting beyond the valley means access to new customers without requiring each small farm or food business to create its own sales opportunity or to spend time away from their business. It is also an opportunity to learn whether a mobile market can become a useful, shared sales channel for Applegate producers.
MERV and Liz are part of a larger effort to build a stronger, more resilient local food system in the Applegate Valley. The Applegate Valley Vision, developed through a community-driven process, identified the need to strengthen local agriculture, connect producers and consumers, build necessary infrastructure, and create more efficient local food distribution and marketing channels, while also building the community capacity and infrastructure needed to respond to wildfire and other disruptions. The trailer can be converted into a mobile kitchen, giving it potential uses beyond the market. In an emergency or other community response, that flexibility could become an important resource.
For now, the pilot continues with more opportunities to take Liz on the road– both within the Applegate and beyond–, while we gather feedback and learn what a mobile market can offer Applegate growers, producers, residents, and neighboring communities.
