View this email in your browser

Photo Credit: The Learning Council at Arbol Farmers Market. Check out their photos throughout this e-news issue and see some incredible fall produce!

October E-News

Greetings CFMA!

As I'm writing this, it's cool and cloudy outside. The trees outside my window are the perfect shades of green and yellow. It's definitely fall. I wish I had a cup of hot chocolate, but I did not prepare!

It has been an incredible season so far. Some of you have wrapped up your market, some are going the next few weeks, and some are going through the winter. If we could take one moment, we want to encourage you and shout out how AMAZING you are for your role in making markets happen - whether you're a team of one, you have others with you, or you're a supporter of your local farmers market, each season brings unique hurdles to overcome, and 2021 is definitely no exception. But if we take a moment to look back - the fires you had to put out, the last-minute vendor emergencies, but then also the children smiling as they run through, the community member trying their first local strawberries, the band who wasn't able to get many gigs during the pandemic but got to play outside for the community for the first time in months. That was you! You got the market through the lows and helped bring them to their highs. We see you, and we so appreciate you.

One thing I wanted to share is it has been awesome seeing people's social media posts! I'm thankful to everyone who joined our social media trainings. We had 32 market managers join us throughout the season! Although we don't have any trainings scheduled this next month, please contact us if you're interested in doing one, and we can talk :)

Thanks,
David
CFMA Marketing Coordinator

What's Happening

Market Manager Meeting (10/26)
Blue FCU Personal/Biz Finance Seminar (10/21)
CFMA Website - Call for Website Designers! (RFP)
Funding Opportunities
October Social Media Post Ideas

Market Manager Meeting

When: Tuesday, October 26th, 10am - 11:15am

Are you currently participating in the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) at your market? Are you interested in participating? Join us for a call with Nourish Colorado and Colorado WIC FMNP program staff to learn more about the program and give your feedback and input on the WIC program at farmers markets.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86367846969

Meeting ID: 863 6784 6969

One tap mobile

+16699006833,,86367846969# US (San Jose)

+12532158782,,86367846969# US (Tacoma)

Dial by your location

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 863 6784 6969

Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbXHuJ3GJV

Blue FCU Personal/Business Finance Seminar

When: Thursday (10/21)
Time: 10-11am

Join us for our final Blue FCU Seminar of the year! It has been fantastic going through business and personal finance concepts to help us with our own and our market's finances and budgeting. If you would like to learn a few new ideas or brush up on your own financing skills, join us! David will host, and a Blue FCU rep will facilitate the seminar.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81380704791

Meeting ID: 813 8070 4791
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,81380704791# US (Houston)
+14086380968,,81380704791# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 813 8070 4791
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kzYK9Z4hF

CFMA Website - Call for Website Designers! (RFP)

Thanks to the support of Blue FCU’s Do-Good Campaign, CFMA will be able to have a new website! We hope to have the membership portal ready to go by the time of our membership campaign in January, and the full website ready to launch by our Annual Conference.

Please share this Request for Proposals with any web designers you know who might be interested in working with CFMA to create our new website.

Check out the RFP here!

Funding Opportunities

America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for grant awards and technical assistance through the 2021 round of the America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants Program. Funding for the HFFI Targeted Small Grants Program is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill. Reinvestment Fund serves as the national fund manager for the HFFI program at USDA. The 2021 HFFI round is offering at least $4 million in grant funds for food retail and food enterprises working to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities.

“Investing in food retail and food enterprises is about building essential infrastructure, economic strength and community resilience,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “At a time when Americans are grappling with enormous challenges from continued COVID-19 infections to extreme weather, it is more important than ever that we invest in an equitable, resilient food system.”

Find More Info Here!

USDA Pandemic Response and Safety Program

The USDA has opened applications for the Pandemic Response and Safety Program grant and is accepting applications through November 22, 2021.USDA is seeking applications to support agricultural stakeholders who haven’t yet received substantial federal financial assistance to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The program will help small businesses in certain commodity areas including small specialty crop and aquaculture producers, food processors and distributors, and farmers markets.

Small businesses and nonprofits can apply for a grant to cover COVID-related expenses such as workplace safety measures, retrofitting facilities, shifting to online sales platforms, transportation, worker housing, and medical costs. The funding request can range from $1,500 to $20,000.

Farmers Market Coalition had a webinar with more info about this. Check out the recording here.

Find More Info Here!

October Social Media Post Ideas

For people who have joined my marketing trainings, you know the main advice I give is do whatever you can do consistently. At minimum, I recommend posting once a week (3x would be ideal; 5+ would be awesome but I know many of us are too busy for that). I've shared posts that are great to do regularly, and today I wanted to share a few posts you can do for October! Pick 1 or more to use :)

If your market is wrapping up for the season, make a Thank You post after your last market.
Halloween! A simple "Happy Halloween" post using a Canva template would be great. If you're doing anything special at your market, share a picture of that.
Thank you to farmers! CFMA has been sharing that fall is an abundant time for Colorado produce. National Farmers Day was October 12, but its never too late to thank farmers for what they do for our markets and for us.
Ask a question related to fall! If your audience is good at engaging (or you want to start encouraging them to), try asking a question. Favorite way to use pumpkins? Squash or pumpkins? Favorite fall beverage/recipe? Bonus points - Share this post on your story!

-David