Grow with us on GiveNOLA Day! | June 1, 2020

Fresh & Local:

Grow with us on GiveNOLA Day!

Tomorrow, June 2, is GiveNOLA Day, New Orleans’ 24-hour day of community giving! Join your friends and neighbors in supporting local non-profit organizations making a difference in our community - like Market Umbrella and the Crescent City Farmers Market!

GiveNOLA Day gifts will support the future and growth of Market Umbrella and allow us to continue connecting you with local, fresh food through our current operations that keep COVID-19 safety in mind including home delivery of healthy produce and no-contact drive thru, pick up markets. Contributions will enable us to increase food access through programs like Market Match (which is available for both the delivery box and drive thru markets) that doubles the buying power of vulnerable families. As many in New Orleans - and beyond - are experiencing a monumental increase in food insecurity, your support is needed now more than ever.

Just as our farmers are planting the seeds for the next harvest, you too can plant your seeds of support for Market Umbrella and the Crescent City Farmers Market with a donation! Gifts can be scheduled now through tomorrow night at midnight so please, make a gift and grow with us!

Good Food Word of the Week:

While Market Umbrella is known for our farmers markets and fresh food access programs, food systems work touches on many social, economic, and environmental issues. The Good Food Word of the Week seeks to shed some light on these parts of our work and the way we talk - demystifying the jargon.

Food desert

This week’s Good Food Word is Food desert - Food deserts are areas where residents cannot easily access vendors that sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods that are essential to a healthy diet and lifestyle. People with low-income and communities of color are most likely to be impacted by food deserts, and research has shown that living in a food desert is a risk factor for the development of diabetes and hypertension, both risk factors in exacerbated symptoms of coronavirus. 29% of Louisiana residents live in an area that has been designated a food desert by the US Department of Agriculture. Market Umbrella combats food deserts in the GNO by “Cultivating the Field of Public Markets for Public Good” through farmers markets (drive-thrus or otherwise), delivery options through community partnerships, and SNAP education.

Picks of the Week:

CCFM Drive Thru Markets

Keep on drivin’ on! We now have two weekly Drive Thru Markets - Sundays at Parkway Bakery and Tavern and Wednesdays at Bucktown Harbor (order until midnight tonight!). Drive Thru markets are different than traditional markets, but not complicated:

1. We’ll email you a placard to print and fill out with your name and the vendors who you’ve shopped from to place in your windshield the day of market (this helps us expedite your visit once at market)
2. Arrive and drive through the market and the vendor will place your order in your trunk
3. Order and pay in advance (with debit/credit or SNAP). You must place an order in advance to shop at these markets.
4. Repeat as needed!

When you arrive, staff will guide you to enter the market, make sure your placard is complete and in your windshield, and help you pop your trunk if needed.

All vendors will be wearing face masks, sanitizing hands between customers, and respecting social distancing guidelines. There will not be product displayed for purchase - the market is only for orders to be picked up. Find more information and how to volunteer here!

Announcing New CCFM Box Options!

If the $40 CCFM box was too much good stuff for your household size, we’ve introduced a new smaller box. More appropriate for a week’s worth of produce for a 2-3 person household, there’s now a $25 box available. The small box contains ~8 mostly produce items from local growers. The large box contains all of those items, plus 3-4 more. Order Tuesday through Friday from our partners Top Box Foods Louisiana for delivery (see map for range details) or pick up at Liberty’s Kitchen. For the pick-up option, you can select “Liberty’s Kitchen” as the delivery date and pick it up from 3pm - 6pm on Tuesday the following week. As always, both size boxes qualify for purchase through our Market Match program for SNAP benefit users, doubling your buying power and cutting the price in half! Choose “pay at pickup” and Top Box will contact you directly to process your SNAP payment and apply your dollar for dollar match.

Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for updates. When you get your box, tag us in a pic of all the great dishes you make with it - we love new recipes!

Pandemic EBT

To apply for P-EBT, follow this link to the Department of Child and Family Services application by June 8th.

Vendor of the Week:

Joe Fekete Family Farm

This family-owned and operated farm grows produce right outside of Amite, Louisiana. A career educator now retired, Joe Fekete wanted to get back to his roots and reconnect with the earth. Farming has allowed him to settle into his niche: playing in the dirt. This farmer embraces the cyclical nature of the land and doesn’t try to fight mother nature. By growing seasonal produce, Joe Fekete’s Family Farm helps to restore balance in nature and in the local community. Hungry for more? Check out what seasonal goodies Joe and the fam are bringing to our new Bucktown Drive Thru market on Wednesdays!

Recipe of the Week:

Braised Short Ribs with Squash and Chile

This meal takes longer than usual to make and is a bit more hands on than most of the recipes we share. Don’t fret— it all pays off in the end with one taste of the deliciously spiced and beefy broth. Short ribs are great for cooking low and slow, so save this recipe for a Sunday when you have some extra down time. The meat and squash get ridiculously tender, the sauce gets saucy, and the whole thing comes together as a decadent yet comforting meal.

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!