COLUMBIA, SC – Hugh Weathers, Commissioner of Agriculture, is pleased to announce that Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed the week of August 5-11, 2007, as Farmers Market Week in South Carolina.
To celebrate Farmers Market Week, showcase Certified SC Grown produce and, at the same time, show their support for ending hunger and poverty, fifteen of the state’s community-based farmers markets will participate in a statewide Certified SC Grown Bake Sale during the month of August. Each participating market will hold a bake sale at their location as part of a much larger nationwide effort, The Great American Bake Sale.
The national Great American Bake Sale campaign, which mobilizes people of all ages to help end childhood hunger by holding bake sales in their communities, began in May and ends August 31st. The event, sponsored by Share Our Strength and the Food Network, has raised over $3 million since 2003 and has engaged more than one million people in baking, selling, or buying goods. Our state’s community-based farmers markets are ideal places to hold bake sales. Customers are already looking for food, and they’re ready to shop and willing to help such a worthy cause.
Ninety percent of the proceeds from The Great American Bake Sale go back to the state where they were collected. Whether $10 or $10,000, the contribution is important and can be a part of something big. Share Our Strength takes the funds raised from the bake sales and grants them to the most effective organizations working to end poverty and hunger.
The statewide Certified SC Grown Bake Sale is a sweet way for our farmers to help end hunger in our state, especially among our children, but it’s also a way to show off South Carolina’s bounty of locally grown products. We’ve been asking you to look for Certified SC Grown everywhere you shop. Now, we’re asking that you also look for Certified SC Grown at your nearest Community-based Farmers Market – and buy a baked item while you’re there! South Carolina’s Community-based Farmers Markets participating in the Certified SC Grown Bake Sale are listed at http://gabs.strength.org, but all 68 of the markets are listed at www.certifiedscgrown.com.
For more information about South Carolina’s Community-based Farmers Markets, call Fred Broughton, 803-734-2224. For more information about Share Our Strength, visit http://www.strength.org and click on “The Great American Bake Sale.”