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10 Years On & FRESHFARM MVT Market Continues to Grow!

Friday April 5, 2024

Since its debut in June 2014, our FRESHFARM MVT Market continues to be a special part of our neighborhood by providing an engaging and inclusive space that unites our community and brings people together. As we gear up for another main market season starting this Saturday, April 6 we wanted to take a look back on the success the FRESHFARM MVT Market has enjoyed so far and celebrate all that is to come:

  • 2013: FRESHFARM launched the “Mount Vernon Triangle Farm Stand” – a pre-curser to what was to become the FRESHFARM MVT Market – with a single farmer, Chicano Sol, bringing fruits, vegetables, and a limited selection of other local products.
  • June 2014: FRESHFARM MVT Market opens for the first time at 5th & K Plaza. In its first year, the market ran from June through October and the hours were slightly abbreviated, opening at 10am instead of the 9am time that customers are now accustomed to.
  • May 2017: FRESHFARM MVT Market relocates to its current location at 5th & I Streets NW, enabling its significant growth and serving as a symbol of the maturation for both our market and community.
  • Winter 2021: FRESHFARM MVT Market weathered the restrictions and limitations of the COVID-19 Pandemic to become one of only a handful of FRESHFARM Markets to be open year-round.
  • 2022 Market Season: Through funding from DC’s Office of Planning and its “Streets for People” initiative, additional placemaking elements added to the market such as cafe-style seating (both in-street and in Milian Park), MVT Literature Festivals featuring used book sales and live storytelling, and the popular FRESHFARM MVT Biergarten series.
  • 2023 Market Season: Our most successful market yet, the full 2023 season doubled its average weekly customer base compared to 2022 and realized an 88% increase in food access benefits matched—ensuring everyone in our community had access to fresh and healthy food regardless of income or ability to pay. The 2023 season also welcomed in three more vendors than the 2022 season, taking the total to 27 vendors, and introduced new programming elements like flower arranging demos and food sampling prepared using MVT CID’s award-winning mobile kiosks.
  • This Saturday, April 6: After another successful winter market, the FRESHFARM MVT Market enters its 10th main market season, and we are thrilled that many vendors that made their debut at our market over the winter have committed to the full season and that many of the mainstay favorites will be returning after a winter hiatus! Winter favorites Pasta Ilgatto and Blues Tea & Coffee Co. will be joining on a weekly and bi-weekly basis, respectively, while Keswick Creamery and Hog Haven will be popping-up on a frequent basis (including this weekend!). Main market favorites Becerra Produce, Fight Juice, and Theresam Farm will also be returning this season along with new vendor Dimitri Olive Oil and our full list of weekly and bi-weekly vendors.

Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning, recently made the FRESHFARM MVT Market a part of your weekly routine, or are planning to make your first visit this weekend, we thank you for your support and we hope to see you at the corner of 5th & I Streets NW from 9am-1pm this Saturday, rain or shine!
The FRESHFARM MVT Market would not be where it is today without the continued dedication, support, and effort of the FRESHFARM staff. This includes Yuval Lev (pictured above left), our incredibly hard working Market Operator who goes above and beyond at market to answer questions, direct vendors, and be a friendly face to all who attend!

In its recently released 2023 Annual Report, FRESHFARM highlighted “MVT’s Journey from Farm Stand to Community Hub” which you can read below:In 2013, FRESHFARM launched the Mount Vernon Triangle Farm Stand with a single farmer, Chicano Sol, bringing fruits, vegetables, and a limited selection of other local products. Ten years later, the FRESHFARM Mount Vernon Triangle Market is a year-round market hosting 25 farmers and producers each week who collectively earned over $800,000 in sales in 2023. The market has become a glowing example of how strong partnerships and neighborhood investment can create a treasured community space shaped by a shared vision. When residents and visitors from all walks of life gather on Saturday mornings, they are building a local economic hub and a food access point.

Critical to the MVT market’s success is FRESHFARM’s partnership with the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District. MVT CID has been a champion of the market from the very beginning and has played a key role in ensuring the success and vibrancy of the market. Even as other areas of downtown DC have struggled in the years since the pandemic, MVT is a thriving and bustling neighborhood supporting both new residents and longtime locals.

Thanks to this partnership, the FRESHFARM Mount Vernon Triangle Market represents the best of what farmers markets can be: a shared community space featuring not just fresh and local food, but also genuine connection among neighbors.

Check out the full annual report at freshfarm.org/2023-annual-report.

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