Harvest Home Farmer's Market

Farmers Markets - For the first time in over 10 years, we opened a new farmers market on Eastern Parkway between Utica and Rochester Avenue, supported by Council Member Mealy. This addition brings our total number of markets to 14. These markets have significantly increased the buying power of low-income NYC residents, allowing them to purchase over a quarter million dollars ($261,370) worth of fresh produce through various consumer payment options, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/EBT) dollars, Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) coupons, Women, Infant & Children (WIC) coupons, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) Health Bucks, and our USDA-funded Healthy Senior Healthy Shoppers (H2S2) program.

Healthy Eating/Living - Despite the loss of a major grant that supported our cooking demonstrations in 2023, we successfully scaled back the program and still managed to serve nearly 20,000 customers, generating $19,542. Harvest Homes coupon and voucher programs continue to achieve several far-reaching goals and outcomes: Increased Fresh Produce Purchases: Low-income customers who receive public assistance benefits doubled the amount of fresh produce they purchased at our farmers markets. Our customers received over $109,000 in Health Bucks ($94,468) and Healthy Senior Healthy Shopper ($15,000) incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables at our markets. Support for Farmers and Vendors: Farmers and vendors from the New York region, who faced significant economic losses due to pandemic-related closures of their most reliable income sources (restaurants, schools, and hospital cafeterias), were able to offset some of these losses with the redemption of coupons and vouchers, totaling $264,656 in nutrition activities. Farm-to-City (FTC) Program: Farmers participating in our FTC program received over $70,000 in support to cover costs such as fuel, tolls, labor, seeds, equipment, and market fees. This program has been a crucial financial resource for BIPOC family-owned farms, enabling Harvest Home to expand participation and diversify product offerings at our markets. Food Talk Newsletter: Additionally, our Food Talk newsletter reached more than 25,000 readers, providing quick, low-cost, seasonally based recipes and nutrition information.