The Family Market

The Family Market Program is our answer to dwindling traditional food supplies and growing health concerns among our service population, specifically diabetes and obesity.

It provides fresh produce and dairy goods to our service population. It operates like a Farmers’ Market, but without charge, and provides an ideal venue for nutrition information. Based on self-selection of the food families like and need, there are no pre-packed bags that may include either insufficient or overabundant quantities. Each Market serves between 200 – 400 people; each household receives approximately 50 -100 pounds of food.

Operating like a free Farmer’s Market, the Family Market is an outdoor food distribution based mainly on self-selection. Instead of receiving pre-packed bags, families may take the food they need. The Family Market distributes donated, locally grown produce, as well as produce obtained out-of-area and trucked that comes to us with fees as well as trucking costs.

In 2009 we added two new sites, in Pajaro and in King City, bringing the total number of sites to ten. The Family Market provides an ideal venue for nutrition information, Food Stamps, and other health and human services programs available to low-income Monterey County residents.

We have been able to add a bounty of produce to the diet of our neighbors. A recent survey of our Family Market clients revealed that 98% of recipients said that they ate more fruit and vegetables because of this program.

From 2007 to 2008, service to the community went from 10,935 households to 16,920 households—from 596,837 pounds of food to 1,041,198 pounds. In 2009, we served 20,168 households with 1,512,118 pounds of food.

Food distributed consists of fresh locally grown produce such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, leeks, lettuce, Portobello mushrooms, scallions and strawberries.

We also distribute fruit and vegetables from all over the state, including potatoes, onions, avocados and other stone fruit. This food is available through a program called Farm to Family, sponsored by the California Association of Food Banks and designed to facilitate produce distribution to the 40+ food banks within the state.

The Family Market runs from April through October each year.

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