Chef-Run, Community Driven Market Program Puts Better Produce on Low-Income Tables
On the first and third Saturday of each month, the parking lot on the farm side of LBJ Hospital in Kashmere Gardens transforms into a drive-thru farmers market. Cars pull in, drivers receive a list of the market’s offerings, they pay and then pick up goods from various vendors. There’s a bus stop nearby, too. And there are walk-ups from the neighborhood; it is a half-mile walk from Kashmere Gardens Elementary, which is where the market was initially held.
The Northeast Community Farmers Market was established in August 2019 by nonprofit Urban Harvest. The bi-weekly market brings fresh, locally grown food directly to a disadvantaged community. Kashmere Gardens—historically African American—is marked by a systemic lack of access to affordable fresh food, commonly known as a food desert.
Long-time resident Keith Downey is president of the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood council. He works together with his counterparts of neighboring Trinity/Houston Gardens, Huey Wilson and Kenneth Williams, on the Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council (NEHRC). The council is helping to revitalize their historically underserved communities in education, economic opportunities and addressing food insecurity.
Downey grew up in this area in the 1960s and ’70s. “I was raised by my grandmother in the Fifth Ward, a neighboring community to Kashmere Gardens,” he says. “She taught me the importance of growing your own food. Eating what you have grown and getting your hands dirty. She would always make sure I had a hot meal prepared when I came home from school.” It was not an uncommon thing in those days.
Back then, Downey adds, “our communities were eating much healthier.” That changed in the early 1970s when stores and restaurants selling processed and instant food exploded on the American dining scene, particularly in less-prosperous communities. “Over time it has contributed to a higher rise of chronic diseases such as diabetes, respiratory illnesses, strokes and obesity with shorter life expectancy within our communities,” says Downey. “We cannot afford to sit back and watch people become ill and die while doing nothing to combat the problem.”
Janna Roberson, executive director of Urban Harvest, met with the NEHRC in preparation of the market and recalls what they said when she asked what the market would bring to their community: healthy food options! “They told me, ‘Go to our local grocery store and take a look at the produce that is offered.’” She did. What she found instantly made clear what they meant. “There were so few choices—some heads of iceberg lettuce, sad-looking tomatoes, limited choices that had all been sitting a while—but it was the only fresh produce available,” says Roberson.
To Downey, the Northeast Community Farmers Market is a game changer. “It is imperative that we continue to promote eating healthier. Our communities deserve it.”
The market is specifically set up for the use of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Double Up Food Bucks (SNAP dollars are doubled when used for fresh fruits and vegetables). For instance, a large produce box offered at the market is $20, but anyone using SNAP dollars can benefit from the Double Up deal and get the box for $10. Market Manager Dominick Lee explains: “This is a low-income community. We want people to sign up for SNAP and make sure they are utilizing the benefits on fresh foods that are good—and good for them.”
Many of us will know Lee better as the creative chef behind now-shuttered Poitin. He has since launched his own hospitality business Alligator Pear, where he explores his creole roots and the food legacy of his hometown New Orleans, all with a commitment to sustainable seafood, whole-animal cooking and local in the process. Community is always at the heart of what he does: “It is important to me to be community-conscious; to pay attention to more than just yourself and take active steps towards making change.”
Lee is no stranger to a food-insecure neighborhood. “I grew up in a neighborhood [in New Orleans] that was extremely poor and is until this day a food desert,” he says. “I didn’t see certain types of food until I was an adult because of lack of access and exposure. I understand this problem [of food insecurity]. I have lived this problem. And if I have the ability to address and do my part, that’s what community is at its core.”
I first met Lee a few years ago at the Urban Harvest farmers market, which was then still at Eastside. It was more or less across from Kiran’s, the contemporary Indian restaurant where he was head chef at the time. We chatted briefly, him carrying a box full of fresh produce on his shoulder, before he continued on his way. I watched him meander the market back to the restaurant, chatting left and right with vendors.
As a chef, Lee knows how to source. He gets fruits and vegetables for pre-packaged produce boxes wholesale from local farmers like Atkinson Farms, Gundermann Acres and Lightsey Farms at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market on market mornings. Since he became the Northeast Community Farmers Market manager in early July he has been a driving force behind growing vendor interest, including Whitehurst Heritage Farms (eggs and chicken) and Moondrop Mushrooms Farm. Lee also adds recipe cards to the produce boxes, to offer suggestions what to do with the green goodness.
In the (post-pandemic) future, the market’s location at the LBJ Farm will be perfect to start offering gardening and food education. “It’s the piece that is still missing,” says Roberson: “how to use the produce, stretch the shelf life of fresh food and learn more about how it is grown.”
The Northeast Community Farmers Market is drive-thru while COVID- 19 measures are in place. The market is held at 5425 Troost St. on the first and third Saturdays, 9am to noon. Follow the Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council (NEHRC) on Facebook to learn more about the neighborhood, as well as announcements about the farmers market and its offerings. Visit urbanharvest.org to find out more about this nonprofit, including how to support its work.
DOUBLE IT UP!
Where the SNAP program offers assistance for eligible families to put food on the table, the Double Up deal ensures that fruits and vegetables are within better reach. Here’s how it works: Every SNAP dollar doubles in value when spent towards fruits and vegetables at participating markets.
That adds up to a triple win: SNAP recipients eat healthier; local farmers sell more of their produce; and food dollars stay in the local economy.
To learn more and/or find a market in your area that participates in Double Up, visit doubleuptexas.org.
