About a month ago, the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace reached out to neighborhood residents (see this post) to learn what people would like to see at the Market. More than 250 people responded in person and online.
Survey respondents chose weekends as their ideal time to attend the market; Saturday edged out Sunday as the preferred day for people taking the survey, and it got the nod from many farmers who might end up selling food at the Market. Thanks to all of you who put in your two cents to achieve a better understanding of what residents would like to see in their Columbia Heights Community Marketplace.
The excitement begins on Saturday, June 5, 2010, the first day of the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace – to be located at the Civic Plaza at the intersection of 14th and Kenyon streets and Park Road, NW. It will run every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., from June 5 through October 30, 2010.
As the Market takes shape, creating a well rounded and diverse weekly event is important. This includes having all of the Market’s produce growers being WIC certified and finding ways to subsidize WIC stamps 2:1 so that all Columbia Heights residents can afford to buy fresh, local food. Our market manager, Robert Schubert, will also be trained to administer Food Stamps and there will be a Food Stamp machine at the market.
Another focal point of the market planning process has been developing a pilot program that will bring entrepreneurial opportunities to local youth so that they gain understanding of and experience in the farming, marketing, sales, and outreach aspects of their own local food system. On a similar note, the Dance Institute of Washington, an established organization focusing on youth outreach, will be performing at the market throughout the summer. (Read more on the DIW here.)
We are looking to local chefs to provide cooking demonstrations at the market. These demonstrations will help promote our local businesses and educate consumers on new and healthy ways to cook using seasonal ingredients. Finally, we plan to have live music and other forms of entertainment every Saturday, making the market a community event that draws on many aspects of the culturally and socially diverse Columbia Heights neighborhood.
If anyone has suggestions or would like to volunteer some time to the development of the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace, please contact us at chcommunitymarketplace@gmail.com. Our next meeting, always open to the public, will be on Thursday, March 4th at 6:30pm at the office of Change Inc; 1413 Park Road NW. We hope to see you all in June, if not before!
Thanks again to everyone who responded and shared their thoughts on the food, activities, and community services that will combine to make the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace the best it can be!
I am the Community and Volunteer Resources Coordinator at Thrive DC, a low-income and homeless services provider which recently moved to the Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant community (1525 Newton Street NW). We had been gleaning similar markets in the downtown area to supplement the two meals we provide Monday through Friday for approximately 200 people. My hope is that this market would provide an opportunity for local social service providers (especially those providing food or meals) to glean any produce which would otherwise be thrown out or not be able to be sold from week to week. To contact me directly about this, please call 202-503-1528. Thank you.
since there’s already a farmer’s market two blocks away (in mount pleasant)on saturdays from 9-2, it seems like sunday would have been a better choice. I hope both can survive. although I think it’s great to have neighborhood organization/pride/activism, etc. it’s also good to think of our neighbors in other ‘hoods.
This is wonderful! And inspiring that a community group made it happen. Although I don’t live in Columbia Heights, I look forward to visiting the market and writing about it!
Yes, why in the world wouldn’t they choose Sunday over Saturday, given the Mt. Pleasant Farmers’ Market hours? Especially since there didn’t seem to an overwhelming preference in the survey.
It was a very hard decision to select Saturday over Sunday. Although the online survey results were basically tied between the two weekend days, the responses we got while canvassing revealed that a lot of Columbia Heights residents go to church on Sunday and would not shop in the late morning and/or early afternoon. In addition, most producers strongly preferred Saturday. We hope that the Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights markets can thrive together!