Mondays in Miantonomi market means more than produce to Newport’s North End
NEWPORT – There may not be a better place to find yourself on a summer Monday in Newport than in the leafy shade of Miantonomi Park, sipping a refreshing mocktail with your dog and tucking into some homemade Ethiopian food while RI Black Storytellers regales you with tales of the past in between Otis Reed’s acoustic sets.
Mondays in Miantonomi started in 2019, then shuttered during the heart of the pandemic. It came back in 2022, and expanded this year thanks to new partnerships between Aquidneck Community Table, the Newport Health Equity Zone, and the Newport Housing Authority with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Fab Newport and Bike Newport.
Mondays in Miantonomi (2-5 p.m.) round out the three Aquidneck Growers Market days, along with Wednesdays at Memorial Boulevard (2-6 p.m.) and Saturdays at the Embrace Home Loans campus on Enterprise Drive in Middletown (9 a.m.–noon). All three markets are dynamic and feature a variety of vendors, but the Miantonomi market in particular offers Newport’s North End communities far more than fruits and vegetables.
While the market does have several programs focused specifically on fresh produce, including Root Riders for teens, the Food Explorers program for young children and the MLK Center’s Produce to the People program (formerly called Veggie Days, it provides free fruits and vegetables to any community member), it also goes beyond that, with a smorgasbord of recreational, educational and cultural offerings all geared towards building or simply holding space for community.
Programming for children includes music, storytelling and the opportunity to try new foods for free
Kristi Dukoff, owner of Kristi’s Kraftails and maker of the aforementioned mocktails for dogs as well as a slate of delicious and refreshing virgin cocktails for humans – which she points out can be easily “elevated” with a liquor of the buyer’s choice – noticed the kids right away. She works the Saturday market as well and hopes to work the Wednesday market next year, but said she loved the vibe on Mondays at Miantonomi because there were so many kids having fun and trying new things.
As she spoke to The Daily News, a performer from RI Black Storytellers was telling a story about an 8-year-old girl named Sheyann Webb who had marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr. on March 7, 1965, on what would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday."
A few families and adults sat and listened in lawn chairs or on blankets in the shade. Some kids sat and listened too, while others paid no mind and frolicked in the playground just behind her. It was a nice sonic backdrop to a calm and quiet afternoon in the park even for those who were browsing the booths and not specifically tuned in to the tale.
Next to the Aquidneck Community Table Tent, Celina Pombo ran the organization’s Food Explorers tent. Her booth was decorated with colorful cartoon vegetable decorations and fun facts about radishes, and she explained kids who sign up for the program get a “food passport” which they get to stamp every time they try a new vegetable at any of the three markets.
Her colleague Kelsey Fitzgibbons, who manages all three markets, explained research has shown children often need to try a new food multiple times before deciding they like it and being willing to incorporate it into their regular diet, so part of the program is designed to not only educate children and families about nutrition but also help parents incorporate more fresh produce into their kids’ diets.
Mondays in Miantonomi also offers plenty of programming for adults, including bike loans and cooking demonstrations
Next to the Food Explorers tent was Root Riders, Aquidneck Community Table’s summer youth employment program. The teenagers employed in the program ride their bikes to a number of community gardens in the North End, tend and water them and then offer fresh produce and flowers at their own market stall.
NEX students from Fab Newport’s Summer Experience program will also operate a market stall offering items they have made, and over by the music and storytelling area there is a tent run by Black Beans PVD offering free cooking demonstrations.
The Big Blue Bike Barn will also be at the Monday market from 3-5 p.m. on event days to offer bicycle borrowing, basic bike repairs and pump track riding, and there is even a breastfeeding mothers support and social group run by local doula Latisha Michel.
Every Monday market will feature live musical acts, and the Miantonomi Tower is also open and free to the public on market days.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport farmers market in Miantonomi Park offers food, social services
