NEWPORT, Ore. — Yoshira Estrada had never visited the Newport Farmers Market before September.
As she walked through the market with her daughter and mother, Estrada listened as Flor Gaspar Marquez and Kimberly Alcaraz — interns in the Oregon State University Extension Service office in Lincoln County — guided the group through stands selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, breads and other local foods.
About 20 people had signed up for the Guatemalan and Latinx Community Cooking Classes and Farmers Market Tours, offered by OSU Extension in partnership with Food Share of Lincoln County.
Midway through the tour, Gaspar and Alcaraz stopped at a vendor selling eggs and meat.
“If you’re going to get meat here, you can ask the vendor, ‘Did you raise your chicken or your pork?’” Alcaraz told the group. “‘Do you have a recipe?’”
A few minutes later, Estrada paused to reflect on what she was learning.
“The difference between fruits and vegetables here and at the grocery store,” she said. “It’s locally grown and fresh. We’re also getting tips — like how prices are often lower about 30 minutes before the market closes.”
Stretching food dollars
Shopping on a budget is a central focus of the program, which includes guided tours — in both Spanish and English — of farmers markets and local grocery stores. The tours are offered as part of the Cooking Matters program in Lincoln County.
“The tours have been very well received by community members,” said Beatriz Botello Salgado, coordinator of Lincoln County’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) unit in OSU Extension’s Family and Community Health Program.
Each tour at the Newport Farmers Market begins at the manager’s booth, where participants learn how to use SNAP benefits. Nearby, the OSU Extension table offers food preservation information and tastings, while a community partner from Conexión Fénix shares details about Double Up Food Bucks.
Double Up Food Bucks allows shoppers to double their SNAP benefits when purchasing fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, farm stands, grocery stores and community supported agriculture shares across Oregon.
On tour days, each participant also received $25 in farmers market tokens, provided in partnership with Food Share of Lincoln County through a grant from Samaritan Health Services.
Learning what’s good — and how to use it
Before heading through the market, Botello Salgado explains what participants can expect, including conversations with farmers about how to select, prepare and preserve produce. Tours include stops at vendors selling cheeses, meats, breads and herbs.
During a September tour for Spanish speakers, Botello Salgado stopped at the Oso Honey Farm booth, which also offered seasonal vegetables and herbs.
“This is very good for your health,” she said, holding up a bundle of kale. She explained how it could be substituted for quintoniles — edible native greens used in Mexican cooking — or other leafy vegetables.
She also pointed out papalo, a leafy herb native to Mexico and Central and South America. Participants passed around a bundle of lemon tea, lifting it to their noses.
“That’s for tamales,” Botello Salgado said.
Beyond the market
Throughout the tour, participants learn how to compare unit prices, read food labels and use community food resources available at the market, including SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer and Oregon Farm Direct Nutrition Program vouchers for seniors and WIC-eligible families.
Tour leaders also share strategies for engaging children while shopping and planning meals to save time and money.
The tours are supported by a social accountability grant from Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital.
In addition to the market tours, OSU Extension and Food Share of Lincoln County provide ingredients and teach healthy cooking classes in commercial kitchens at the OSU Extension office in Newport and at St. James Santiago Episcopal Church in Lincoln City.
Previously titled Lincoln County cooking classes, market tours encourage healthy food shopping on a budget
