Common Ground Farm is pleased to announce the start of the 2020 Newburgh Farmers’ Market season. The market will be open every Saturday from 10-2 pm until the last day of the season on November 21, offering a wide variety of local produce, including culturally significant options, in addition to eggs and fruit. As the market expands we plan to add additional agricultural products, including meat, maple syrup, beverages and body products. In 2020, the market will remain at the beautiful outdoor park at the Safe Harbors Green, 95-107 Broadway, Newburgh.
The mission of the Newburgh Farmers’ Market is to feed and engage the Newburgh community, support local farms and businesses, and create a more just food system. Common Ground Farm looks forward to another season at Safe Harbors Green as a central location for Newburgh’s population. The Safe Harbors Green is accessible by public transportation with a covered bus stop on Broadway, right next to the large Ann Street municipal parking lot with free parking, and easily walkable from many of the city’s residential areas.
Access to fresh, healthy food is one of the core tenets of CGF’s food justice mission, and the Newburgh Farmers’ Market will enable greater food access through food benefit programs at the market. All market vendors accept SNAP/EBT, FMNP, WIC and Fresh Connect checks for eligible products, and recipients of these food benefits are encouraged to stop by and talk with the market manager about how to use their benefits at the market. As an added bonus, the Newburgh Farmers’ Market will match the value of food benefits used at the market with our Greens4Greens checks. When customers use a $4 FMNP check to purchase lettuce, for example, they will receive an additional $4 Greens4Greens check to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. Greens4Greens checks can also be redeemed at the Beacon Farmers’ Market on Sundays. This enables low-income customers to access fresh, local fruits and vegetables throughout the growing season in Beacon and Newburgh.
The 2020 market will look a little different than 2019’s market in order to take all necessary precautions to keep vendors and shoppers safe. Vendors’ tents are set up with 10 feet of distance between them and all vendors will handle their product exclusively to discourage contact by shoppers. Shoppers are asked to wear face coverings the entire time they are at the market and practice social distancing from other shoppers. The market manager will have hand sanitizer for shoppers to use as well as reusable cloth masks donated by Mutual Aid Beacon to distribute to shoppers who come unprepared. The market will have an average of 6 vendors including 3 farms, other agricultural products, spirits, and locally made body products. The market intends to bring as much diversity of local products and local farmers to Newburgh and Orange County as possible while following COVID protocol.
The market will donate unsold produce in collaboration with the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative to Newburgh-based food pantries and soup kitchens. In 2019, Newburgh Farmers’ Market donated 1,928 pounds of fresh, local produce through this collaboration. Common Ground Farm is grateful for the support of the Ogden Foundation and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for the farmers’ market and food justice initiatives in the City of Newburgh.
The Newburgh Farmers’ Market is looking for vendors and will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis.
For an application or more information, please email newburgh@commongroundfarm.org.