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Farm to Family brings fresh veggies to the East End

Mark Lilly’s Farm to Family bus makes regular stops in Church Hill and Fulton:

Farm to Family is a mobile micro farmers market that was converted from a 1987 international school bus.  Our mission is to reach those who want fresh quality produce and locally produced commodities who might not otherwise have the means to do so.  We do not discriminate between neighborhoods rich or poor, we come to you!

The bus set up in the old Sunny Market on 25th Street this afternoon for a few hours, and then moved on to the regular stops at 25th/Broad and the NRC in Fulton. I stopped by for some butter and discovered that the BBC was there, travelling with the bus today — a neat overlap overlap of the world’s smallest and largest media.

The bus was stocked with a mix of fresh seasonal vegetables, prepared items such as apple butter and pies, and dairy products like cheese, butter, and yogurt. The fresh veggies change through the seasons; the dairy items are regularly available:

We are moving into our winter season so items will be changing. […]

  • Local honey from lakeside, good for allergies!
  • Wade’s mill baking mixes
  • Eve’s caramel coated apples (dipped in oreo,reeses or nuts)
  • Farm-fresh local produce from hanover county
  • Winter squash-acorn,spaghetti, butternut
  • homemade pies and breads
  • apples, peach cider
  • potatoes and onions
  • southernmost maple syrup and products
  • apple butter, Puffs BBQ sauce
  • pumpkins
  • Polyface eggs, meats-chicken, beef and pork

Have some fun on the magic vegi bus! Tell a neighbor a friend and bring the kids! We’ll also have our live baby rabbit, Daisy, on display! YAY Fun!

Hook with Farm to Family on Facebook or Twitter to stay in the loop!

BBC folks, just chillin’ on 25th Street

14 comments

Juliellen 02/03/2010 at 8:07 PM

Thank you, Mark! I’m so glad you are in the area, particularly Fulton. See you next Tuesday!

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Lisa 02/03/2010 at 8:49 PM

I checked out your produce not long ago and was dissapointed with the lack of freshness of the produce. !

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Elaine Odell 02/03/2010 at 10:56 PM

I’ve purchased fresh eggs, bread, veggies & fruit this month from the bus. EVERYTHING was delicious AND fresh. But the best part, was getting to pet Daisy, the pet bunny rabbit Mark brings with him. She’s cute and friendly.

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s.kelly 02/03/2010 at 11:32 PM

It is local and it is February. Check him again as the seasons change. By now almost everything “fresh” comes from the other half of the globe.

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John M 02/04/2010 at 6:43 AM

Seen on the Farm to Family facebook page:

Today BBC’s Philippa Thomas rode around on our Farm to Family veggie bus — we talked about food, farms, nutrition and Michelle Obama’s War on Childhood Obesity. Watch for us on the BBC World News 2/9 – it will air in the US on BBC America on PBS.

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kimmy 02/04/2010 at 7:30 AM

The romaine lettuce I bought yesterday was deliciously fresh. The yogurt peach yogurt will be gone by tomorrow and the eggs are fantastic! Thank you Lilly Family.

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Elaine Odell 02/04/2010 at 8:06 AM

winter squash, collards, kale, potatoes, & apples. just some of the local produce on the bus last week of january…and turnips were due back soon. yes, Virginia, there IS a winter produce crop (you just have to adjust your tastes with the season.)

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the other Lisa 02/04/2010 at 8:10 PM

I picked up a beautiful head of romaine today from Mark-happy to get such fresh greens this time of year!

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Alison 02/05/2010 at 10:40 AM

This is an incredible resource for the Hill! I went yesterday and now I’m all set for the snow storm! Thanks for publishing this, John.

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Suzi 02/09/2010 at 2:14 PM

Here’s the link to the BBC online news story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8506662.stm

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John M 02/09/2010 at 2:42 PM

The healthy approach to meals on wheels (BBC 2/9/10)

Much of the city of Richmond, Virginia, is historic and impressive. But as we drive into the district of Church Hills, the couple talk about the damage done by crack use.

We pass liquor stores and check-cashing outlets and row after row of boarded up windows.

Folks here are addicted to bad food and first you’ve got to wean them off it before you can sell them the good stuff

We stop in the empty parking lot of an abandoned supermarket, over the road from a huddle of drunks, and wait for customers to come.

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Lisa 02/10/2010 at 9:17 AM

Are there two buses one called Farm to Family and the other called the Veggie Bus or are they one and the same?

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Suzi 02/10/2010 at 7:38 PM

Right now we are only one bus, and it is officially called Farm to Family, but people nicknamed it the “Veggie Bus,” and some people call it the “Farm Bus.”

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