The Traveling Road Show

This week began an exciting campaign for the NH Fresh & Local brand! UNH grad student, Eliot Jones, and I are traveling locally to farmers markets to interact directly with the community and determine if a demand exists at these markets for fresh, local seafood.  Our traveling road show consists of a display, educational pamphlets on where to buy local seafood, and a brief survey.

Our display!

Yesterday was our first of many markets, which took place in Rye.  We arrived at the town center, set up our display and jumped right into making small talk about buying local seafood with those who stopped to view our display.  Although the market was relatively small, it was a great way to figure out what people were most interested in hearing about and how many people were willing to take the survey.

To me, it was exciting to see the positive reaction from the community.  The vast majority of people we spoke with were eager to learn of places they could  find locally caught fish and how it helps not only the fishermen but the environment and the community.  It's very encouraging to see the potential to bring seafood into farmers markets and keep the catch local! In the upcoming week we will travel to farmers markets in Portsmouth, Durham, Dover and Exeter, it's going to be a busy time, but Eliot and I are excited to work together on gathering and sharing as much information as we can!

Eliot and I at the Rye market. Photo courtesy of Eliot Jones.