New Whole Foods Partnership and National Farmers’ Market Week Celebrations!

City Green is excited to announce that we have begun a one season partnership with Whole Foods Market as part of their Nourishing Our Neighborhoods Program. Whole Foods Market is providing sponsorship funds to the Good Food Buck nutrition incentive program, as well as donating $10 off Pantry Staples gift cards to SNAP customers at three of our partner retailers located in communities with Whole Foods Markets: Montclair Farmers’ Market, The Beth Greenhouse at Newark Beth Israel, and Riverview Farmers’ Market. Partners have already begun to distribute gift cards to SNAP customers, and the program has added funding support to the Good Food Buck program by augmenting Good Food Buck incentive dollar and marketing funding to each of the participating markets. 

Whole Foods Markets’ Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program supports community-based efforts to remove barriers that make it difficult for people to access food in their communities. The program is an amplification of Whole Foods Market’s commitment to win-win partnerships with local suppliers by assisting in providing tools and incentives that encourage shopping locally. They believe the success of this program will increase the number of customers seeking fresh, local foods which, in turn, supports local producers and farmers and keeps more food dollars in local communities. The long-running success of the Good Food Buck program thanks to funders like NJHCN / New Jersey Health Initiatives has allowed City Green to leverage this additional funding to enhance the program.

City Green also enjoyed celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week at the beginning of the month. We highlighted two of our partner retailers–Montclair Community Farms and Greenwood Ave. Farmers’ Market–on City Green Social Media accounts. City Green’s recipe contest was successful with many wonderful submissions and we are proud to announce that our winner was Lori H. with her recipe for stuffed tomatoes. It was fun to be able to celebrate our partners and everyone who makes accessing fresh, affordable, locally-grown produce possible!

Finally, during Farmers Market Week, we had the chance to meet with our NJHCN coach, Tiffany Neal at one of our partner retailers–Greenwood Ave. Farmers’ Market in Trenton! Greenwood Ave’s Manager, Lauren Porter  gave us a tour of the market and all of the wonderful produce that their produce vendors (Norz Hill Farm & Market and Isles) had on display. Greenwood Ave. Farmers Market serves as a community hub, offering not only fresh local produce, but also free Summer Meals for kids, juices and prepared foods, food giveaways, health screenings and community resources, and a kids activity station. We got to share updates about our work with Tiffany and soak in some summer sun while enjoying some of the best of New Jersey’s local produce!

Photo provided by Greenwood Ave Farmers’ Market!