This Saturday, after a year of preparation, a community-based initiative to bring locally grown food to Jamaica Plain will open the neighborhood’s first winter farmer’s market.
Egleston Farmers Market will offer seasonal produce, meat, eggs, cheese, fish, bread and baked goods at an affordable price, which has been a dream of Jamaica Plain resident Myrna Greenfield since she first heard about winter markets taking off in the Boston-area.
According to state officials, Massachusetts now has over 35 farmers’ markets that run through the winter months.
“We’re hoping that we’ve been able to build enough momentum to be able to succeed in the winter. People are more and more familiar with winter markets now, whereas a few years ago they were fairly uncommon in Boston,” Greenfield said.
The market received support from USDA and the city to accept SNAP payments – formerly known as food stamps – and to offer Bounty Bucks, which lets SNAP recipients get matching funds to spend at the market.
“Offering affordable, healthy food is absolutely important,” Greenfield said. “There certainly have been efforts to try to offer healthy food in Egleston, and yet the options have been limited, especially in the winter.”
