French Toast Bites creator Charisse McGill to lead the Farmers Market Coalition

If you get Charisse McGill started on the subject of farmers markets, be prepared for an earful.

“Agriculture is culture, and farmers markets are so much more than just tents with fruit,” she said Sunday on a visit to Headhouse Farmers Market in Society Hill. “They build economic sustainability and access to nutritious foods to communities across the country.”

McGill was director of special events at Valley Forge Military Academy and ran the Lansdale Farmers Market for six years before leaving to open her business, Lokal Artisan Foods, whose specialty is French Toast Bites sold at such places as Cherry Street Pier and Spruce Street Harbor Park.

With Lokal humming along with longtime managers and employees — and, she says, an 85% staff retention rate — McGill has started a second full-time job that takes her career full circle.

McGill, 41, has just been named executive director of the Farmers Market Coalition, a national nonprofit based in Albany, Calif., that advocates on behalf of about 9,000 farmers markets and strengthens their place in communities.

At Lokal, she said, “everybody knows what they’re doing. I wasn’t in that position two years ago to do this. Now, I’m able to step away for a little bit and give back to an organization where I got my start.”

The coalition needed someone like her, McGill said. “We want to get their message out there — the work that the Farmers Market Coalition does — because they’re a little humble,” she said. “I think the work that is being done there, like having SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] accepted at farmers markets, should be shouted from the mountaintops.”

» READ MORE: Charisse McGill and daughter Madison appear on the "Today" show

Last spring, McGill told the story of Lokal’s founding, with the help of her daughter, Madison, on NBC’s Today show. That put her on the coalition’s radar.

McGill, joining the coalition on the eve of the 24th year of National Farmers Market Week (Aug. 6-12), hopes to inspire participation by and open doors for BIPOC, female, and LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. Her predecessor, Ben Feldman, has a new role as the coalition’s policy director to further support its farm bill advocacy efforts.

As part of her initial duties, she will go on tour, with appearances scheduled at Bethlehem Farmers Market in Bethlehem (Aug. 10), the USDA Farmers Market in Washington (Aug. 11), and Easton Farmers Market in Easton, Pa. (Aug. 12).