Allan Appel photo
The line was five deep for the nectarines, peaches, and corn, and by about 40 minutes later those items were sold out – although there was a lot of other bounty left – tomatillos, chives, blueberries, collards, cilantro, and kale.
That’s why by the end of the harvest in the fall, the line will be 20 deep.
That’s how popular is the Tuesday afternoon mobile fruit and vegetable market van operated by Common Ground High School and Urban Farm when it pulls into the Fair Haven Branch Library.
It’s the most popular of 12 locations throughout the city, all in areas where the access to fresh produce is limited, said Schandra Madha, who, along with Miguel Vargas, are the managers of the mobile market.
Brimming with produce grown both by West Rock-based charter school and a handful of local farmers, the mobile market, which began as a pilot program in 2012, will be operating through the first week in November.
See the full schedule here.
Miguel Vargas, Schandra Madha, and Yale fellow Olivia Bell.
And in Fair Haven at least, where the yellow onions glistened under the white tent pitched on the lawn in front of the library, there were many repeat customers on Tuesday.
Among them was Juanita Drummer, the long-time crossing guard at the nearby Fair Haven School. She had a shopping cart full of corn, peaches, and nectarines, and has been a happy patron for six years, she reported.
The price is right, she said, the produce fresh and attractive, and Drummer said she also likes the idea the food she is buying is part of a teaching and learning experience for students.
Stephanie Swantek, a therapist who works in area high schools, is another more than satisfied repeat customer. She was leaving with about $30 worth of produce, much of it, she said, destined for grilling and a future as toppings on pizza.
“I’m pregnant, and it’s convenient, accessible, right down the street, and the prices are better,” she said, “than other farmers’ markets. I love the market as a whole.”
Vargas, who co-manages the mobile market with Madha (who is also Common Ground’s compost coordinator), estimated that about 90 percent of the customers each week for the 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. market use the federally provided SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to make their purchases.
For the WIC (Women, Infants, Children) and senior beneficiaries, benefits include $24 specifically earmarked for purchases at farmers’ markets such as Common Ground’s.
Happy customer Stephanie Swantek.
Madha, who is also the coordinator of the composting program at Common Ground, said WIC benefits can be reloaded, that is, card holders can go into the appropriate state offices and renew the benefits once the $24 has been spent, but that is not the case for seniors. She contends it should be.
While she was speaking to this reporter, Vargas was animatedly helping customer after customer, often in Spanish. Many of the customers are pleased to be able to conduct their purchases in Spanish, he said. Sometimes people don’t know the English name for a particular item, and then the transactions also turn to other matters as well.
An I.T. guy who self-describes as sitting ten hours a day at a computer, Vargas was delighting in the people contact, he said, as much as they were with his helpfulness and enthusiasm. The Spanish language fluency matters. “It feels we have a deeper connection here, and the people are so grateful.”
The aim of the market, said Madha, is not to make money. There is grant funding for most of the work, so the idea is to cover costs and make sure that healthy fresh fruit and vegetables get out there into the neighborhoods where it is not always affordable or easy to come by.
The next stops this week are the Mary Wade Home on Thursday and the Black Corner Store, on Edgewood Avenue near Platt, the newest location, on Friday.
For the full schedule, locations, and more information, the contact is: [email protected] or 203 – 389-4333, ext. 1217
In a healthy food grocery store desert like our little city, with lots of people who are private transportation challenged, having programs like these farmers markets that accept government food assistance payments is a lifeline.