Nestled in the parking lot of Conte West Hills Middle School, the Wooster Square Farmers’ Market is the Saturday morning spot for anyone who loves fresh food. When I visited the market last weekend, Yale students, New Haven residents, and community members from neighboring towns walked through the lines of vendors, milling about with flowers and produce in hand.
The Wooster Square farmers’ market is one of three New Haven local farmers’ markets organized by the City Seed Organization, a New Haven based group committed to community-wide accessibility to fresh, nourishing food. Only a short southbound walk from campus, the Wooster Square market is particularly accessible for Yale students. Through City Seed, Connecticut food stamp recipients can use SNAP cards to pay for fresh produce at local farmers’ markets. City Seed participates in Fresh Match, a statewide program that allows food stamp recipients to double the value of their SNAP cards when used at participating local farmers markets on fresh produce. In addition, City Seed’s farmers’ market at the Dixwell Q-House is the first and only of the three markets where City Seed itself doubles Farmers Markets’ Nutritional Program purchases for WIC recipients.
While chatting at the information desk with market organizers, I got the chance to talk to mothers and their children, college students, and farmers market veterans coming to get their SNAP tokens. “Food is the second prayer…breathing is the first. Food is community, and that’s what you get here,” expressed Eben, a New Haven resident and farmers’ market regular. Eben exuded relaxation when he walked up with a reusable tote slung over his shoulder. When asked to be interviewed he enthusiastically told me not just about the market, but other community organizations like MakerSpace, a shop where members can be taught wood and metal working. He proudly showed me his membership card and encouraged me to come, his attitude emblematic of the inclusivity of the farmers’ market community.
Community was visible everywhere in the market. Farmers happily greeted their regular patrons and fellow farmers, kids ran in front of their parents with fruit juice dripping from their faces and hands, and friends walked by, catching up and picking out the perfect basket of apples to share. When I went to buy some massive peaches from Woodland farm, they happily helped me pick the best ones and encouraged me to try the apples and plums.
The Wooster Square market is the only year-round farmers’ market in New Haven, moving produce inside when the weather gets cold. When I asked Jenny, a farmer from Star Light Gardens, about attendance in the winter months, she described avid market goers waiting outside for the market to open to get a pick at the more limited winter produce.
“In the winter months, it’s more lettuce, spinach, and salads—green, nutrient-dense things,” Jenny explained to me. Many farms like Star Light focus on sustainable growing practices and food for health. The quality of freshly picked and locally grown products is unmatched; programs like Fresh Match help to make them accessible.. Having a year round market allows people to consistently reap the social, physical, and environmental benefits of fresh food. All markets are producer-only, meaning farmers grow everything they sell. One farmer’s stand, Root Life, attends the markets at the Dixwell Q-House and Edgewood with produce and herbs they grow in community plots here in New Haven.
As I left with a full stomach, a bag full of peaches, and a renewed appreciation for locally-grown food, I looked back at Eben. He was admiring the tomatoes he cradled, in conversation with the farmer selling them.
