Farmers' Market Season Starts Soon

June marks the beginning of Farmers’ Market season in Hartford. It brings with it good food, food trucks, performances, and opportunities for families to spend time outdoors at community events across the city. There will be opening day ceremonies that include music and entertainment to kick off the season at each of the neighborhood Farmers’ Markets in Hartford throughout the month of June.

From June through October people who live in Hartford and the surrounding towns can find locally grown favorites like callaloo, cilantro, tomatoes, corn, hot peppers, lettuce, cucumbers and okra at neighborhood farmers’ markets.

And this year, four markets are doing their best to get out the message that participating Farmers Markets in Hartford accept and give extra value for SNAP/EBT (formerly known as food stamps). “All four farmers’ markets are making a big effort to make the markets a better place to come, use SNAP/EBT, and hang out,” says Jeniffer Perez Caraballo, the Oh SNAP Hartford initiative’s Farmers’ Market Outreach Project Coordinator.

Each market will have coupons for free merchandise signs at each market to let customers know which vendors accept SNAP/EBT, and people who can help SNAP customers better maneuver the different value programs. This is all in an effort to promote the idea that customers get more market money for their SNAP/EBT at the four weekly neighborhood farmers’ markets in Hartford. These markets are:

• Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge year round (summer-539 Broad St./The Green at Billings Forge, winter-563 Broad St./The Studio) – Thursdays, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. opening on June 2nd
• North End Farmers' Market (80 Coventry St./North End Senior Center) – Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. opening on June 7th
• Homestead Farmers' Market (255 Homestead Ave./Chrysalis Center) – Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. opening on June 22nd
• West End Farmers' Market (385 Farmington Ave./Clemens Place Green) – Tuesdays, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. opening on June 29th

“Farmers’ Markets are community events revolving around locally grown, everyday foods in a festival-type setting,” says Farmers’ Market Outreach Project Coordinator Jeniffer Perez Caraballo. “In addition to catering to the tastes of those in the neighborhood, these markets offer music, food trucks, crafts, and a way to meet the farmers who grow local, healthy foods.”

Oh SNAP Hartford is reminding Hartford residents about the acceptance of SNAP/EBT with bi-lingual campaigns in both English and Spanish. Colorful city bus signs are already appearing promoting the Farmers’ Markets that accept SNAP/EBT and offer more market money when they do. “We’ve also got a website, Facebook page, and instagram page where people can find out the latest information about the markets, post about their experiences in the markets, and get coupons for promotional items” says Perez Caraballo. “We want everyone in Hartford to come out and experience one of our farmers’ markets and the food they offer. It is a great way to make your money stretch, put good food on your table, and spend time outdoors with your friends and families. I know once they come out and check us out they will come back every week.” says Perez Caraballo.

Oh SNAP Hartford is a USDA-funded program aimed at increasing awareness of SNAP/EBT acceptance at Hartford Farmers’ Markets.

The Oh SNAP Hartford campaign kicks off in June and will run until the end of October. For more information see: www.OhSNAPHartford.org.