Hello folks!  This last weekend was Big Sunday and Fed Up with Hunger was out in force.  For the unaware, Big Sunday is a Los Angeles wide community service event involving hundreds of service organizations and over 50,000 volunteers.  Be proud Los Angelenos- it ranks as the largest community service event in the nation! 

Fed Up with Hunger’s Big Sunday project was a gleaning of the Hollywood, Larchmont, Brentwood and Encino Farmers Markets.  Our cheery volunteers from the Jewish Federation’s young leadership divisions and Birthright Next solicited produce donations from farmers market shoppers and vendors alike.  We mercilessly unleashed our smiles and go get ‘em enthusiasm, inspiring scores of vulnerable, charity prone people  into giving us produce. Read more »

How innovative markets serve the needs of low-income customers
By Benjamin Fried
(excerpted from Project for Public Spaces)

Toronto, Ontario - One method to make markets more accessible is to bring them closer to customers. That’s what a Toronto organization called FoodShare accomplished by setting up small produce stands called “Good Food Markets” in low-income neighborhoods throughout the city.

“Most of the farmers markets [in Toronto] are based in middle- and upper-income communities,” said Angela ElzingaCheng of FoodShare, adding that the cost of traveling across town to get fresh food is “very expensive for low-income communities.”

To reduce those costs, FoodShare launched the first Good Food Markets in 2005. That summer there were two locations. This year there are twelve.

A big key to FoodShare’s success has been community partnerships. The markets are located in neighborhood institutions like health clinics and community centers. FoodShare staff shows how to set up the stands and sell the produce, and the neighborhood partners organize the rest. It’s been a winning strategy for everyone involved.

St. Margaret’s-in-the-Pines Church hosts the East Scarborough Community Market, which includes a Good Food Market and stalls run by several neighborhood organizations.

“People are extremely excited to have this market atmosphere, and the market organizers are building relationships with people,” said ElzingaCheng. “The markets are doorways to other things. People start accessing other resources.”

The markets serve as vehicles for Placemaking in these community institutions, sparking new activity that draws people together. At St. Margaret’s-in-the-Pines Church, for instance, five community organizations have combined a Good Food Market with craft vendors, music, children’s activities, and booths for local organizations, creating a vibrant public space. Another partner, the Flemingdon Community Health Center, has used a Good Food Market as a venue to support five women embarking on prepared food and catering businesses, who sell their products at the market site.

ElzingaCheng believes the emphasis on public space at each market site is integral to its success. When FoodShare sets up a new Good Food Market, she shares Placemaking principles and expertise with the partner organizations that host it.

“When you look at the issue of food access,” she said, “the best way to address it is through culturally appropriate food, lower transportation costs, and vibrant public spaces.”

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