Midtown Farmers Market

What a year!!!! We have survived our first season under Covid, civil unrest and fires all around us, yet we were able to still offer you place to shop for fresh produce and more during a challenging time! We know this year has been a challenge for us all and we have been hit financially and now WE NEED YOU to help support us with gift small or large to help offset the cost of operating the market during this 2020 season! 

Created by a group of neighbors with a vision in 2003, the Midtown Farmers Market is a community-based market devoted to ensuring equitable access to healthy, locally-produced food and providing for the long-term viability of our foodshed. Soon to embark on its 17th season, the market transforms an otherwise bleak urban parking lot into a vibrant community gathering space and marketplace twice a week for six months out of the year.  Each season, a diverse community of over 50,000 market-goers gathers to celebrate our local bounty with live entertainment, fitness classes, arts activities, fresh fruits and vegetables, artisan crafts, and ready-to-eat food from over 75 local family farms and small businesses.

Midtown was the first farmers market in Minnesota to accept SNAP-EBT (food stamps), and we continue that legacy as leaders in improving access to affordable, healthy food in a mixed-income neighborhood in the heart of South Minneapolis. This year alone, over $15,000 worth of fresh, local food purchases were made possible through the market’s EBT token and Market Bucks matching incentive programs, improving access to healthy local food for those most in need.

And because everything you see at the market is sold to you direct from Minnesota and Wisconsin farmers, artists, and small business owners, the market ensures more of your dollars are reinvested in the local economy. Many of our vendors have gone on to expand into other outlets, open brick-and-mortar locations, and create jobs for others. Our affordable vendor fees allow entrepreneurs to put their products in front of customers, learn, improve, and grow their businesses at a low cost.

As a result of our commitment to accessibility, the vendor fees we collect cover just half of our operating costs. Keeping vendor fees affordable is not only good for the farmers and small businesses you enjoy connecting with every week, it also translates into affordable prices for YOU!

Thus, we depend on your generous contributions to help us pay for things like access to restrooms at the market, compost, recycling, and trash, tents for our community table partners, special event day entertainment, and more.

Your support is especially needed during this time of development and transition around the market site. Construction this season on the adjacent Hennepin County Services Center did impact market attendance and sales; and construction on the block will continue for several years to come. While the development plans include a permanent home and plaza for the market,  your continued loyalty and support of the market and our vendors is more important than ever along the path to get us there. 

When you support the Midtown Farmers Market, you're supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture, small business owners and healthy communities--you're helping to create the kind of community we all want to live in. 

The Midtown Farmers Market is a project of the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization. Your contribution to this project goes directly to the Midtown Farmers Market.