Get To Know the Mill City Farmers Market Team, Part 1

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

Stayci Bell, Member of the Charitable Fund Board of Directors

Stayci BellWe go every week (or you should) to the Mill City Farmers Market. What goes on behind the scenes to pull our amazing market together, week after week? What about the market programs that support our local farmers and food producers? We will focus on a few key personnel to help you get to know them, and market programs, even better.

Meet Stayci Bell, a member of MCFM's Charitable Fund Board of Directors. Her zest for community involvement and support for the farmer is unparalleled. We talked to her about all of the hats she wears, being involved at the ground level and how to support the Charitable Fund.

Q:  You describe yourself as a daughter, mother, grandmother, gardener, photographer, actress, puppeteer, healer, leader, and storyteller, which you sum up as an EVERYTHINGist! Wow! For the purposes of our interview, you’re also a member of the Board of Directors of the Mill City Farmers Market Charitable Fund. Please tell us about the Charitable Fund and why it is important to you. 

A:  The Mill City Farmers Market Charitable Fund is important to me as it allows for the market to support not only the farmers and the makers at the market, but beyond. The Charitable Fund makes it possible for the market to reach out and support and build relationships with the community using Market Bucks, Greens for Good, and the Next Stage Grant. It also helps with providing access to learning opportunities and food that is healthy and local.

Q:  How may our readers participate in or contribute to the Charitable Fund?

A:  People can participate or contribute to the Charitable Fund by becoming a Friend of the Market by making a personal donation, by attending the market’s Annual Fundraiser, or by underwriting or sponsoring a program or activity.

Stayci with Pam Benike at Prairie Hollow Farm

Q:  You help out at local farms. Why is being involved at the ground level important to you?

A:  Being involved at the ground level of the Mill City Farmers Market reminds me, (as usual), of a garden; its soil and ecosystem. All of the little things happening all at once or behind the scenes to make it all happen each and every market; rain or shine. From setting up the market, assisting, supporting, and loving the farmers and the makers, and all that it takes for them to get themselves and their things there so early in the morning, to interacting with all of the people; children, babies, doggies, there is simply something about the market that makes me forget that I am even at work (after setting up all of the tents and tables, that is). Helping out at local farms and being a day staff member at the market helps me be a better board member.

Q:  Your poem, To Eat To Live, contains this line several times: "To eat to live is different for me than it is for you." Please talk to us about this line and its meanings for you.

A:  The line in my poem, To Eat To Live, “To Eat To Live is different for me than it is for you” describes my belief in the fact that eating is easier for some than it is for others. Every year there seems to be a new word surrounding food and its access; regenerative, sustainable. What were the others I am sure we have spent years talking about? But, what can we DO? I had remembered hearing the phrase To Eat To Live some place, some year before, and one day all of a sudden I had a response to it. It was about how the stresses of life can cause a person’s appetite to change. How the thought of eating can make me personally nauseous. And how there have been days when I have found it hard to simply chew and swallow. How eating simply turns into a chore…one more thing you have to do…to live! How do you eat to live if you cannot afford it? If you can afford it, how can you access all that is whole and good for you?

Q:  How can we follow your news? 

A:  I don’t know how anyone can follow my news. I have removed myself from Facebook so that I can continue to grow as a natural human being, meeting people naturally in my community garden called life. Since then, I have seen more people in person than I did when I was on social media. The best way to follow my news would be to come down to the market and see me. You could catch me working for the market and sometimes for a vendor and we could say hello and welcome to all of the new vendors we have joining the market this year. I am so down for growing my own community garden. A community just for me, that consists of humans who love and care for me. We grow and bloom together. That is what it feels like at every market! From the day staff to the Mill City Museum staff, to the visitors of the market, (two legged and four), to the vendors, to the people simply walking and driving by…we are growing and blooming together. May we keep being able to harvest the fruits; acceptance, abundance, and LOVE.