Four Fascinating Days with North Dakota Farmers and Growers
When was the last time you shopped at your local farmers market? In November, I received a wonderful invitation from longtime friend and President of the North Dakota Farmers Market and Growers Association, Marvin Baker, to deliver the 2024 keynote address during their annual statewide conference held in March in Bismarck, North Dakota. As an already avid farmers market shopper, I embraced this invitation which supports my passion for shopping and cooking with locally grown and produced ingredients – a theme prevalent in At Home with Christy Rost and Celebrating Home.
The NDFMGA’s mission is educating and connecting North Dakota farmers markets, growers, producers, and customers by promoting locally grown products, providing healthy choices, improving marketing skills, and connecting people and communities. I’ve learned a lot over the years when it comes to marketing and networking – hence the title of my keynote address was “Growing Your Brand: Nurturing Consumer Relationships to Increase Brand Loyalty and Sales”.
What began as an opportunity to inspire farmers, growers, and artisans in my keynote by imparting achievable, affordable methods to build their customer base, grow consumer relationships, and thereby increase their sales soon became a personal mission to shine a light on this hardworking organization and the dedicated people who grow our food. I was privileged to share the benefits and joys of shopping at farmers markets via an interview that was published in The Dickenson Press and during two television cooking segments – one on North Dakota TODAY (NBC) and the other on KX News Studio 701 (CBS).
The conference kicked off with the “Fresh from North Dakota” social sponsored by the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. Held in the gorgeous atrium of the North Dakota Heritage Center and Museum, they asked me to provide the evening’s entertainment by creating a charcuterie board start-to-finish utilizing ingredients consumers will find in North Dakota farmers markets later this year. Like any successful gathering, as soon as the charcuterie board was complete, guests swooped in to take photos and then devour the luscious selections.
I learned so much from attending the Friday seminars, but what I found equally informative were the many conversations between farmers and growers. It was all about food, but from a very different perspective than the conversations I’ve been part of with chefs, food writers. and other culinary professionals. I felt like a sponge trying to soak up as much as possible!
My sincere thanks to the North Dakota Farmers Market and Growers Association, President and good friend Marvin Baker, Executive Director Keith Knudson, Katrina Hanenberg of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, dear friend Ilene Baker who became my personal chauffeur and talented stylist in each TV studio, and to all the farmers, growers, and artisans who welcomed me so warmly to their annual conference. I loved every minute!