Mobile Market Brings Produce To The People

Equipped with a reusable shopping bag and reading glasses, Francine was on a mission. Not even waiting in the 80-degree heat could deter her from obtaining her groceries. In the end she was successful, leaving in tow with some peaches and a bunch of scallions, much cheaper and fresher, she proclaimed, than if she had gone to the supermarket.

Francine picked up that produce Tuesday during the latest weekly stop of Common Ground’s Mobile Market outside the Fair Haven branch library at 182 Grand Ave. The Fair Haven library is just one of the many sites that Common Ground Mobile Market services, including the Wilson Library, Mary Wade Nursing Home, the West Hills Community Center, also known as​“The Shack,” and other locations around New Haven.

The operations of the farme’rs market coincides with the growing season of crops and runs from mid July to early November. The last farmer’s market session will be held at Bella Vista, a senior apartment complex in Fair Haven Heights, on Nov. 7.

Fair Haven Library Branch Manager Kirk Morrison has partnered with the West Rock charter school Common Ground since 2019. According to Morrison, roughly three quarters of the people who come to the market use food benefit programs, showing how this market helps address the greater need of the community. 

“It’s been a very impactful program, because not only do a lot of people come to it, but a lot of the people that come to it really depend on it, because they might not have transportation to get to more up-market farmer’s markets,” he said. 

In addition to being a venue for Common Ground’s Mobile Market, the library also has other initiatives to tackle food insecurity, having a garden in the back of the building managed by Gather New Haven. The produce and food harvested from the garden is free for people to take.

Schandra Madha, the mobile market’s coordinator who also serves on the farm staff at Common Ground High School, worked as a cashier on Tuesday.

“We’re just trying to connect our farmers, our local producers, with folks in the community who might have limited access to fresh produce through systemic food apartheid,” she said. 

All the food that is sold at the market comes from within a 20-mile radius of New Haven and is sourced from local farms such as Hindinger Farm in Hamden, Merry Mountain Farm in Woodbridge, Cecarelli Farms in Northford, and Yale Farms. Madha added that their fruit is sourced from Blue Hills Orchard in Wallingford. 

Working alongside Madha was Josephine Wang, a Yale fellow, and Gino Cordone, assistant marketing manager for CitySeed and Common Ground. Fair Haven is one of the busiest stops for the mobile market, serving anywhere from 30 to 50 people.

“I think what’s significant for this stop is making folks feel comfortable with being like, predominantly Spanish speaking,” she said. ​“Even though our Spanish is limited, [it’s important to] just make people feel comfortable.”

Madha admitted that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up with the demand and need of populations. With the team being small, they can’t accommodate all transactions with food assistance at high volumes and there has been a reduction of Spanish speaking people on the team compared to last year, making communication with Spanish-speaking residents difficult. 

Despite these challenges the mobile market is still committed to providing reliable, fresh produce. This year, the mobile market has added more stops to their schedule, with one of the locations being the Robert T. Wolfe apartments in the Hill. 

For Francine, who declined to share her last name, the Fair Haven Library has been her go-to spot to catch the mobile market. While the mobile market also visits Bella Vista where she lives, the market operates in the early hours from 10 a.m. to noon. She much prefers grocery shopping in the afternoon, which is exactly the timeframe where the mobile market visits Fair Haven Library.

“The produce is good, and it’s nice getting it directly from the farm. I like that,” she said. ​“It’s supporting the community and it’s a reasonable price.”

As for how she’ll use the food she picked up on Tuesday, Francine said with a laugh, ​“I love to cook and I don’t have any [recipe] plans. I kind of wing everything.”