Farmer's Market Diversity

Reporter: Jocelyn Frank

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Script

HOST: In cities across the U.S. there are food deserts- areas where the closest supermarket may be miles away. Farmers markets are one popular way to bring fresh produce in to urban areas but are farmers markets serving the community members that need them most? Jocelyn Frank reports.

Jocelyn Frank: The fall harvest season has now come to a close but not everyone was able to enjoy fresh corn plucked from tall green stalks or fragrant plump red tomatoes fresh off the vine.

In the United States access to fresh produce varies between the city and the country, between the rich and poor.

AMBIENT NOISE, GEORGIA: Can I help somebody...

JF: Farmers markets are one way to make fresh produce accessible. However, it takes more than a convenient location to attract all members of the community.

JEFF ESHMIRE: This is a really diverse neighborhood that we're in and we want to bring more diversity into it.

JF: Jeff and Debra Eshmire manage the Mt. Pleasant farmers market.

Situated in North West D.C., the Mt. Pleasant community contains a mix of cultural influences. It's an area with a history of affordable housing that now faces gentrification. Debra Eshmire...

DEBRA ESHMIRE: Our side of things is nutrition, we encourage WIC coupons, pushing the nutrition base, we want to promote everyone of every class to be able to participate an enjoy the market.

JF: WIC stands for Women Infant and Children. This year the government assistance program made healthy eating possible for over two million people deemed at high nutritional risk. From May to November WIC encourages its participants to use special vouchers. These so-called "Get Fresh" coupons are redeemable only at local farmers markets. They provide fresh produce to participants and simultaneously support local agriculture.

On the opposite side of D.C., on the edge of the city's eastern boundary, there's a tiny market- a farm stand it's called. It's located on the site of what used to be one of the area largest open-air heroin markets.

STEVE COLEMAN: People have been selling illegal, unhealthy things for years and somehow they are able to make it work so we think if they can do that we ought to be able sell something that's legal and healthy and it turns out that it does work.

JF: Steve Coleman, director of the non-profit Parks and People, has teamed up with community gardeners and youth education programs to make the Heritage Park Farm Stand a success. The stand goes beyond attracting the community to fresh fruits and vegetables. It works to rebuild and engage the whole community from the park outward.

SC: Next year we are looking at opening a healthy smoothie stand, a healthy café, which would have an Internet component. It would be the first cyber café in that entire part of town. A catering business that would support programs in our headquarters site. It's very exciting when you start to look at it. There's tremendous, tremendous assets in these neighborhoods.

JF: The hopeful energy of D.C.'s farmers markets is spreading across the nation.

Farmers markets are on the radar of wealthy non-profits, private foundations, government agencies as large as the United States Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. This year a combination of over one million dollars in grants helped to support diverse farmers initiatives.

AMBIENT SOUND, ROBERT: This cheese from the Maclaw...

JF: New immigrant and womyn farmers now make up the fastest growing sector of U.S. agricultural producers. More than 50 % of these new farmers depend on farmers markets to sell their goods.

Their success may predict the future of U.S. agriculture. Back in Mt. Pleasant, Debra Eshmire is looking for those farmers to match her consumers.

DE: We are searching for farmers that represent the minority community as well um.it's working! JF: If the efforts of farmers markets around the District of Columbia and the enthusiasm of national organizations continues forward, better access to nutrition, education and community pride will be growing tall, with the corn and tomatoes for harvest seasons to come.

For Intern Edition, I'm Jocelyn Frank.

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