What so many people love about farmers’ markets is the experience of shopping for produce outside and knowing that they’re getting food straight from the farmer. Partnering with the City of Cambridge, Food For Free is able to give families that experience with our third summer of the Market in the Park at Danehy! And with our food rescue operation picking up from farmers’ markets around Boston, we provide fresh local produce almost directly from the farmers.
Making sure people have access to healthy food is central to our mission, but what’s also important is making sure people have a positive shopping experience. Our school-based and outdoor summer markets promote dignity, convenience, and choice, things we often take for granted when we walk into a supermarket.
Each Thursday from July through mid-August, parents circled a picnic table at Danehy Park to choose from baskets of colorful greens, squashes, and root vegetables. Many of them got in line while their children played on the playground or visited the Book Bike, which was always parked nearby. The time and location are convenient to families who have many reasons to spend an afternoon at the park, and there are no obstacles like signing up before the market. This summer, the city’s Fuel Assistance Program even provided reusable bags for shoppers to take home.
Markets look different during the school year, but there are just as many reasons to make the trip. September through June, School Markets see students, parents, staff, teachers and principals all in the same room. At our four partners schools, any member of the school community can sign up and find what they need at the market. That typically includes an assortment of fruits and veggies, groceries like pasta and peanut butter, eggs, and frozen meat. Food For Free orders and delivers the food from the Greater Boston Food Bank, but the markets are run by each school’s family liaison and volunteers.
Regular markets will return to the Kennedy-Longfellow, Martin Luther King Jr., Peabody, and Graham and Parks schools this fall, and we’re excited to help Benjamin Banneker Charter School and the Tobin School launch new markets.
Nutrition and education go hand-in-hand, and that’s why Food For Free is particularly interested in serving school communities. Students who can meet all of their dietary needs are more likely to learn and perform academically. Since the markets are inside the school buildings and open to the whole school community, nobody has to travel far to get what they need. School Markets give families a chance to connect with teachers and staff and make sure that students are being nourished inside and outside of the classroom.
