The Somerville Mobile Farmers Market recently wrapped its 14th year of service to the community. — Photo courtesy of The Somerville Food Coalition

By Jeffrey Shwom

A healthful, familiar sight was seen from Broadway in East Somerville to Clarendon Hill Towers on the Arlington line this past summer – a white city-owned van decaled with yellow letters and green edges proclaiming The Somerville Mobile Farmers Market. Residents speaking in a multitude of languages are greeted with bins of seasonal local vegetables and, more importantly, a sense of community and ownership. The Somerville Mobile Farmers Market recently completed its 14th season of providing fresh, local produce to Somerville residents last week.

“Shoppers take pride in the market. It is a very regular thing,” said Gershom J.L., the mobile market assistant manager who lives in Ball Square. “Folks are often waiting in anticipation for the market to open. It is for them, and by them.”

Run by the City of Somerville’s Office of Food Access and Healthy Communities, The Market began its local community-driven approach in 2008. Sean O’Brien, Food Access Coordinator and Manager, told us, “People do not always have access to fresh, high-quality food. The mobile market was created when the Star Market left Winter Hill in 2008, when it created this deficit for people to get food. It also uncovered other food access issues.”

According to a 2024 Greater Boston Food Bank report titled “Food Equity and Access in Massachusetts: Voices and Solutions from Lived Experience,” 34% of Massachusetts residents run out of food or do not have sufficient funds to buy their monthly food. Somerville residents are no exception to this statistic, and here is where the mobile market steps in.

Cash, SNAP, HIP, Massachusetts Farmers Market Coupons, WIC Coupons, and debit and credit cards are all accepted. Per Sean, “over 60% of our customers pay with some form of benefit,” with many customers accessing coupons and benefits from standup organizations and nonprofits like Somerville Cambridge Elder Services and Council on Aging. The program is additionally supported by funding that allows prices to be set at or below wholesale prices.

Furthermore, “it is a neutral, comforting space where people will talk about things. A lot of people speak lots of different languages. One customer, who is from Bangladesh, brought her daughter and very excitedly showed her daughter that this is where she gets her vegetables.”

All of the food comes directly from local farmers who grow with organic practices. These farms include Oakdale Farm (Rehoboth), Myers Produce (Hatfield), New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (Beverly) and World Farms (Lancaster). World Farms works with refugee farmers and New Entry with established family farmers and emerging farmers. This further creates a sustainable, inclusive local food ecosystem that feeds those who need access to food the most, right where they live.

For example, in 2024, the Market operated July through October at Clarendon Hill Towers, the Somerville Public Library East Branch, Council of Aging at the Tufts Administration Building, and Mystic Housing Development. In West Somerville, the market used to be at the North Street Housing Development. Due to its redevelopment, the Market moved to Clarendon Hill Towers. According to Sean, it is now “right in the middle of people’s community. People needed this. It is also the first market on a weekday afternoon, suggested by the staff there.”

Feedback is part of the growing (and funding) process. The Office of Food Access and Health Communities is participating in the Food Systems Assessment, being run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Gershom told us, “Last week, we surveyed around 20 people directly. Some reasons they say they shop are accessibility, convenience, they like the prices, they like the quality. There are culturally relevant options.”  Demand and food insecurity is up too. The 2023 season saw an over 60% increase in the number of transactions. Early data analysis of the 2024 season shows another 8-9% year over year increase in transactions and amounts of sales.

For Sean and Gershom, this work is personal. Sean was the chef de cuisine at Cuisine En Locale (formerly in the ONCE Somerville and Anthony’s space on Highland) and worked directly with local farmers. Gershom has experience in the public sector and studied Recreation and Leisure Studies at Southern Connecticut State University.  It is, for Gershom, “all about working with the people.”