SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Oak Park Farmers Market came back Saturday after the weekend event was paused in 2022 to search for a new nonprofit host.
Longtime farmers market manager Joany Titherington said a $500,000 grant from last year's California state budget provided a much-needed boost.
"Once you taste freshly grown fruit, not shipped from out of state or out of country, it's hard to go back," she told ABC10. "Almost 90% of our farmers are within 25 miles of where we we sit right now... so this is about local economy as well as feeding people."
In May, The Food Literacy Center's Board of Directors in Sacramento voted to adopt the farmers market for the first time in its history.
Center officials described the Oak Park Farmers Market as providing access to fresh and healthy produce to one of the city's largest food deserts.
Along with California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, City Councilmember Caity Maple helped secure the $500,000 grant.
"All throughout my district many areas are considered food deserts, and so those are places where people don't have easy access to affordable fruits and vegetables," Maple told ABC10. " So we're growing food justice initiatives throughout the city of Sacramento — and that includes things like this farmers market."
The farmers market will also be broadening its scope to provide food education and assist with nearby small food businesses.
Titherington said future growth means she will eventually start up her own nonprofit centered around the Oak Park Farmers Market.
"I ran this market for 12 years and we did absolutely great in what we did growing this farmers market. Now, it's all about rebuilding," she said. "We looked at transferring our information from one nonprofit to another nonprofit so and we're still working on it."
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