Weekly program lets kids use play money for produce at Sammamish Farmers Market
For years, the Sammamish Farmers Market has drawn children with its crafts, games, and treats. Recently, children are coming to the market for something different: fruits and vegetables.
Since its founding in 2024, the Sammamish Farmers Market Power of Produce (PoP) program, run by the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, has been encouraging children to support locally grown produce and make healthy food choices.
On each market day, children between the ages of two and 12 receive $2 in play money to buy a fruit or vegetable of their choice from a produce vendor at the market. After purchasing their produce, children return to the PoP booth to receive a prize. On their first visit, participants are also given a planting kit with a miniature pot and seeds to grow.
After learning about the program from the Washington State Farmers Market Association, Sammamish Farmers Market manager Pam Saito brought PoP to Sammamish.
According to Julie Honn, executive director of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, over 120 kids participated in PoP during the market’s opening day on May 7, which she estimates is double the participation last year.
Sponsored by TLC Montessori, PoP reimburses all produce vendors for the play money they collect.
Fernandez Farms vendor Rachelle Fernandez noticed that some children were eager to use their play money to help pay for the produce that their parents were buying.
“There was one little kid, the mom was buying a cauliflower, and he literally ran and said ‘Let me help you pay,’” Fernandez said.
Youssef Ahmed, 14, initially joined PoP to earn volunteer hours for school, but quickly grew to enjoy the program.
“My favorite part? Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces as they get their prize and walk away,” Ahmed said.
In addition to encouraging children to support local food growers, the program has the added benefit of bringing more traffic to the market’s youth vendors. PoP and the market’s younger vendors tend to share the same audience, so they are strategically placed side-by-side.
“It [PoP] actually brought more people to their [the youth vendors] booth and they sold out of all their items last week,” Honn said on May 14.
The Sammamish Farmers Market will be at the Sammamish Commons every Wednesday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. through September. For more information, visit sammamishfarmersmarket.org.
