UMass Extension helps Mayor Menino kick off farmers’ market season in Boston with a demonstration of nutritious cooking.

Mayor Menino with Extension Nutrition Educator Donna Harman, Commissioner Julia Kehoe of the Department of Transitional Assistance, Commissioner Scott Soares of the Department of Agricultural Resources and Nutrition Educator Chrissy Carrol.

On the second day of summer, just across from South Station in Boston, “Mayor Menino’s salsa” became the flavor of the farmers’ market, as the Mayor joined other city and state officials to award a grant to increase the number of farmers’ markets that are able to process electronic payments for low-income residents who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.  The UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program was on hand, as they will be on more than six dozen occasions at farmers’ markets in Boston this season, to prepare and serve samples of some healthy recipes made with local fresh produce. On June 22, it was “veggie salsa” a tasty combination of tomatoes, chili peppers and black beans that quickly became known as the Mayor’s own.

This season, UMass Extension’s nutrition educators based in the program’s Boston office will demonstrate the preparation of nutritious recipes at 16 different sites in the city.  Extension educators from other nutrition program offices will be offering similar demonstrations ans a variety of healthy recipes and food safety information at farmers’ markets in Beverly, Brockton, Chicopee, Fall River, Gloucester, Haverhill, Holyoke,  Ipswich, Lawrence, Lynn, Springfield, and Worcester.

UMass Extension’s series of cooking demonstrations at farmers’ markets is supported by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources,  whose support supplements that of Extension’s Nutrition Education Program and the state Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.