Boise Farmers Mobile Market
Kelsey Kolskey and Melissa Nodzu operate the Boise Farmers Mobile Market out of Vanna the Veggie Van, stopping at locations throughout Boise, with grace and plenty of humor. Photo by Arlie Sommer.
Boise Farmers Mobile Market
Eat More Veggies and Support Local Agriculture!
by Jackie Sommer
The Boise Farmers Market is near and dear to our hearts and we have been avid supporters, founders, and participants since its inception. When the Boise Farmers Mobile Market began in 2015, we were delighted to have our produce (as well as many other local farms’ produce) be accessible to more communities.
The Mobile Market’s mission is, “to improve the nutritional wellness of the community while supporting local agriculture.” At Purple Sage Farms, we align with this goal. The benefits are impactful—more support for our farming community while providing more nutritious and meaningful food connections for everyone.
As the name implies, The Mobile Market travels throughout our community, bringing market-fresh produce from local farmers to neighborhoods. The market focuses on areas identified as low income, fixed income, or food deserts, and accepts cash, debit and credit cards, EBT, Double Up Bucks and Sprouts Kids Club Tokens to expand access and serve all shoppers. Operating out of Vanna the Veggie Van, the market visits 15 stops around Boise throughout the week–the schedule is posted on the Boise Farmers Market website.
We recently interviewed Melissa Nodzu, the Mobile Market Manager since 2019. She evolved into the position organically, through her involvement in the many facets of local food. Nodzu draws hope for a better future from her experiences and participation within the market community.
Nodzu’s wide ranging experience as a vendor at the Boise Farmers Market, a board member, and previous market manager, prepared her for the multidisciplinary demands of her job. She’s passionate about bridging the gap between communities, the food they eat, and the farmers that grow it!
She resonated with the Mobile Market’s mission, “Everyone deserves access to good, nutritiously dense food. What inspired the Mobile Market was to connect our community to our local farmers, provide an additional selling opportunity for our farmers, and to reduce transportation barriers for access to quality wholesome, nutritious food.”
A major component to the Mobile Market is to help people connect to where their food is sourced from. Nodzu engages with customers to help them understand the seasonality of agriculture in our region and learn how to use whole food ingredients to cook meals. She educates shoppers about the value of the food at the Mobile Market,“When it comes to our food systems, it is important to know the agricultural practices in place from where you source your food. We have choices and choices form the society we thrive in.”
Melissa Nodzu interacts with a customer at the Veterans Memorial Park stop. Nodzu says she never turns away a hungry customer and considers it part of the Mobile Market’s mission to share food with anyone in need. Photo by Arlie Sommer
Each year, Melissa and her staff bring in new products–like microgreens, mushrooms, purslane, Italian dandelion–to broaden the food choices available to customers. “People still need to eat more veggies,” she emphasizes.
The Boise Farmers Mobile Market is an essential service to the communities that are fed by it as well as the local farmers that sell their produce through it. We encourage our network of supporters and customers to find Vanna the Veggie Van’s location near you and stop in for a unique and nourishing experience. We are so appreciative of all the hard work that goes into making this market possible!
