MARTA Farmers' Markets Get $500,000 Expansion Grant

ATLANTA, GA — MARTA, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, will expand its fresh produce kiosks thanks to a $500,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture. The grant will help them expand their footprint, which currently stands at four stations.

“This generous grant from the USDA enables MARTA to help bridge the nutritional gap from the convenience of our local stations and expand our increasingly popular Fresh MARTA Market program,” said Elizabeth O'Neill, MARTA's interim CEO and general manager.

The Fresh MARTA Market has expanded into four rail stations since its inception in 2015. Right now, the four fresh produce kiosks are at:

• West End, every Tuesday until Nov. 29, 2017
• H.E. Holmes every Wednesday until Nov. 29, 2017
• College Park every Thursday until Nov. 30, 2017
• Five Points every Friday until Dec. 1, 2017

The expansions are scheduled for 2018, when the number of weekly visitors is expected to be more than the current 2,000. A MARTA press release says more than 300,000 people in the MARTA service area "lack reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food," according to a 2014 study by Feeding America's Hunger in America.

About one-third of the 2,000 weekly visitors use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, "meaning we are successfully serving those disadvantaged populations our program targets," said Amanda Rhein, MARTA's Senior Director of Transit Oriented Development.

“The Fresh MARTA Market provides competitively priced, locally grown produce all within a transit accessible location while providing local farmers a unique opportunity to sell their products” O’Neill said.

The press release said the markets are managed in partnership with the Community Farmers Market, Atlanta Community Food Bank/Food Oasis-Atlanta, South West Atlanta Growers (SWAG) Cooperative and Organix Matters.

Georgia's Fresh for Less, formerly SNAP 2-for-1, double's a SNAP recipient's dollars at the MARTA farmers' markets.

Article image provided by MARTA