ABOVE PHOTO: Charisse McGill
Executive Director, Farmers Market Coalition
PHOTO: Lokal Artisan Foods Group
As National Farmers Market Week approaches, Charisse McGill, Philadelphia’s First Lady of French Toast, hopes to make you fall in love with Farmers markets.
By Denise Clay-Murray
Before creating Lokal Artisan Foods and showing Philadelphians that French toast was not just for breakfast anymore, Charisse McGill was the manager of a suburban Philadelphia farmers market.
“Before I started French Toast Bites, my daughter had a lemonade business inside at the Lansdale Farmers Market, where I was the manager for seven years,” McGill said. “And that’s what prompted me to go back to school, to St. Joe’s, and get the MBA in food marketing, because I really wanted to get a better understanding of the open-air food market economy and the local food system.”
Headhouse Farmers Market By Kory Aversa
“I saw that independent food producers that were making six figures and that I was on the wrong side of the tent,” McGill continued. “I see the magic in the farmers market.”
And as the new executive director of the national Farmers Market Coalition, McGill’s mission is to help the rest of America see the magic in Farmers markets as well.
The Farmers Market Coalition announced McGill’s return to where she started last week. The coalition serves more than 8,000 farmers markets across the country by advocating for them, helping them connect to real income opportunities, and expanding access to communities for them, according to the organization’s website.
“We are thrilled that Charisse McGill has agreed to step into the role of FMC’s Executive Director,” FMC Board President Allen Moy said in a statement. “We are confident that her passion for this work and entrepreneurial spirit will allow FMC to further increase its support for farmers market operators nationwide and to have an even greater impact upon our collective efforts to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.”
McGill’s appointment coincides with the beginning of National Farmers Market week, which begins on Sunday. As part of the celebration of independent food producers, she’ll be visiting farmers markets around the country and meeting with the people who run them to find out what their needs are and how the coalition can help, she said.
Northern Liberties, Philadelphia By Kory Aversa
She also wants farmers markets and the coalition to stop being so modest about what they do, McGill said. From helping people who need food assistance to providing fresh produce to people in food deserts, farmers markets do a lot for the community, she said.
“What I really want to do is to amplify the mission and the work that happens at the Farmers Market Coalition,” McGill said. “I want to make farmers markets more accessible and equitable for everyone. Philadelphia is lucky in that we have more than 60 farmers markets across the city. Not everyone is so lucky.”
Toward that end, McGill will begin her first duties as executive director with a tour of farmers markets. If you’re in Bethlehem, she’ll be at the Bethlehem Farmers Market on Aug. 10. Washington, D.C. residents can meet McGill at the USDA Farmers Market in the District of Columbia on Aug. 11. And Easton residents can meet McGill at the Easton Farmers Market on Aug. 12.
But if you’re like me, you’re wondering what the fate of Lokal Artisan Foods and your favorite French Toast snacks will be now that McGill has returned to the farmers market world.
Not to worry. While McGill won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations, Lokal Artisan Foods and the French Toast Bites, beers, and coffees that everyone has come to love are going nowhere, she said. Because of a combination of an 85% employee retention rate that includes a new general manager that will run the company’s day-to-day operations, the business will be okay, she said.
“French Toast Bites is still biting,” she said. “We still have our spaces on Spruce Street and Cherry Street, we’re still in the Convention Center, and we’ll always do the Christmas Village, so nothing’s changed.”
This is the continuation of a very busy year for McGill, who made history when she became the first Black woman to have food spaces on Penn’s Landing. She was also named a Buy Black awardee from the Philadelphia 76ers and she and her daughter Madison were the subject of a Mother’s Day profile on NBC’s “Today” Show.
Leave a Comment