When the farmers market in Old Town Orange opened on the morning of May 7, 2011, no one really knew how it would turn out. \u201cI remember standing at the packing house at six o\u2019clock in the morning wondering if anybody would show up,\u201d says Megan Penn, executive director of Orange Home Grown, the non-profit organization that runs the market.<\/p>\n
Penn needn\u2019t have worried. Thousands of customers showed up on that very first day to partake in locally grown produce and boutique food products, and they\u2019ve been coming ever since. \u201cIt was a magical day,\u201d says Penn.<\/p>\n
In the years since, the farmers market has become a mainstay of Old Towne Orange, but it was just the first step for Orange Home Grown, whose mission to educate the community about urban agriculture and sustainable food production continues to evolve. In 2016, they opened the Education Farm on North Lemon Street, where they offer classes and outreach programs to the local community. They also maintain a seed lending library, partner with local schools and businesses, and award annual scholarships to promising students in food science, agriculture and environmental studies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the best examples of how a university and a local nonprofit can come together,\u201d says Chapman University President Daniele Struppa during a recent visit. Chapman has been a dedicated supporter and partner for the past decade, including providing rent-free space for the farm and market to operate.\u201cThe value of an institution is in its relationship with the community, and I think the partnership we have here is one of the most beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The past year has presented a new set of challenges to Orange Home Grown. After the pandemic shut down the farmers market in March 2020, they worked with city and university officials to reopen after only one month, in accordance with state and local health guidelines. Volunteers, mostly from the university and local high schools, stepped in to help monitor crowds. \u201cThey wanted to support the community,\u201d says Penn, \u201cand help make sure people had access to nutritious and healthy food.\u201d<\/p>\n
What will the next ten years look like for OHG? Penn hopes that with continued support from Chapman and other local partners, they\u2019ll continue to grow the size of the market. She\u2019d also like to add more locations to their urban farming programs. \u201cEvery week we have someone new who reaches out and wants to get involved, so we\u2019re starting to feel some growing pains in our current space. With new locations, we can do more to support a healthy community, mentally and physically.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Executive Director Megan Penn reflects on the impacts of the Farmer\\’s Market and Education Farm over the past 10 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3061,"featured_media":1939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,150,41],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-daniele-struppa","tag-orange-home-grown","tag-orange-home-grown-farmers-market"],"yoast_head":"\n