Dietician Laura McCain’s monthly farmers market cooking classes are attracting Munson Health Center employees.

But one Friday a month this summer, including this Friday, Aug. 8, Ms. McCain grabs her wok and heads to the farmers market just down the street from her office in the Munson Medical Center—and entices fellow employees to follow her.

This pied piper of good food woos and wows her fellow employees with chef demonstrations and recipes for simple dishes made from whatever’s in season and at the nearby market. The hundreds of other shoppers at the Farmers Market at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons (a wooded, redeveloped former psychiatric hospital grounds) also join in the fun. And farmers, who want to stay on their land rather than sell to developers, happily sell their produce to the newly educated customers.

Ms. McCain is on a joyful mission. She figures it’s her job to help people eat healthy, particularly in these days of skyrocketing obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. And she believes farm-fresh food is the gold standard for nutrition and taste.

She’s not alone. In California, for example, physician Preston Maring launched one of the best-known hospital-based farmers markets in the country. He wanted to make it easier for hospital employees and visitors to find healthy food—a natural for a health care provider. Any large employer could do it, too.

At one point, Ms. McCain, a trained chef, considered copying Dr. Maring’s model. She was already featuring fresh local farm products in special hospital cafeteria meals, distributing the nonprofit Michigan Land Use Institute’s Taste the Local Difference guide to local farm food, buying lots of its featured product wholesale, and displaying that fresh food grocery-store-style so employees could pick up a pint of blackberries or a bundle of asparagus to take home. Employees love it; for example, they bought 750 pounds of asparagus this year.

So launching a hospital farmers market seemed a natural next step.

But there was already a farmers market a short walk away, tucked away from Munson’s view, behind trees and historic Victorian-era buildings. She didn’t know how many employees knew about this gem outside their back door, yet she knew they needed to eat more fruits and veggies: A hospital survey revealed workers were eating only three servings a day, not the recommended five to nine.

The determined dietician sent out a hospital-wide email encouraging employees to go to the market, and promised to teach them how to cook what they bought: stir-fries, fresh vinaigrettes, veggie frittatas. So she headed to the market with her wok and portable burner.

“All the produce was absolutely gorgeous,” she said “Even the turnips—which don’t have a glamorous reputation—were just beautiful. The garlic cloves were huge and juicy. It’s such a pleasure to cook with such beautiful food.”

But will promoting a farmers market within walking distance help busy workers eat better?

Twenty Munson employees showed up at Ms. McCain’s first demo to taste her simple but sumptuous fare. No doubt, word will spread: It’s easy, healthy, and tasty. And it preserves the view.

So, if you’re in Traverse City this Friday, visit the market at Grand Traverse Commons, between 4 and 5 p.m., when Ms. McCain, her wok, and her good food will be there.