On Sunday, local residents gathered in Melrose to discuss the next steps in the creation of the South Bronx Farmers Market to be located on 138th Street between Willis and Alexander Avenues in Mott Haven.
The new market has already secured necessary permits from Community Board 1 and is in the middle of filing other necessary paperwork to make this happen.
The South Bronx Farmers Market is targeting Saturday, June 14th of this year as their first day of operation and will be working with local farmers as well as community gardens and urban farmers to bring you the freshest and most local of fruits and vegetables.
This will be the fourth Farmers Market in the General area and will be the first one to operate on a weekend.
Current farmers markets in the area are located at 161st Street and Grand Concourse at Joyce Kilmer Park (the largest and busiest of the group) which operated on Tuesdays during the market season, Lincoln Hospital on 149th Street between Morris and Park Avenues on Tuesdays and Fridays, and The Youth Market on Wednesdays at 3rd Ave and 149th Street at Roberto Clemente Plaza.
Anyone who has ever been to these markets knows that the local residents hunger for such access to fresh produce as they are filled with shoppers from open to close.
Adding one in Mott Haven on 138th Street will only further solidify and ensure access to fresh produce to an underserved neighborhood which will accept SNAP (EBT aka food stamps), WIC, and will also participate in the health bucks program where for every $5 you spend using EBT you receive $2 “Health Bucks” to buy more produce at the farmers market.
The South Bronx Farmers Market still needs more help in organizers so if you’d like to reach out and help, please do so and become a volunteer! There are many opportunities to do so, including, community outreach, marketing, working in procuring local farmers, policy planning, volunteering on market day, and many more. To find out more on how you can help, send an email to: southbronxfarmersmarket@gmail.com and someone will get back to you!
Leave a Comment