Now Accepting Volunteers! | May 11, 2020

Fresh & Local:

Now Accepting Volunteers!

Farmers, fishers, and food producers? Check ✓ Local produce, seafood, meat, dairy, honey, plants, and artisan goods? Check ✓ Online marketplace and weekly Drive Thru market? Check ✓ Volunteers? We need you! Now that the CCFM Drive Thru is a fine-tuned machine, we are seeking volunteers to help on Sundays 8-12pm at Parkway Bakery and Tavern.

That’s right - we are ready for volunteers! Please lend 2-4 hours of your time by helping us create a resilient food system, connecting farmers to the community, while keeping everyone safe. Rest assured, all CCFM staff and vendors are wearing facial covering, frequent hand washing/sanitation, and practicing 6ft social distancing. We ask that all volunteers do the same.

Check out our calendar of available volunteer opportunities and sign up for a spot directly through SignUp. Check back often as we use this calendar to post volunteer opportunities with drive thru markets and more!

And remember, our volunteers are one in a mirliton!

Good Food Word of the Week:

While Market Umbrella is known for our farmers markets and fresh food access programs, food systems work touches on many social, economic, and environmental issues. The Good Food Word of the Week seeks to shed some light on these parts of our work and the way we talk - demystifying the jargon.

Food Safety

This week’s Good Food Word is Food Safety - Food safety used to mean Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), certifications and practices which work to limit food borne illness in growing operations. Now the term has expanded to mean social distancing and PPE as the industry works to also prevent the spread of coronavirus through the food supply chain. While food and food packaging has not been shown to be a source of coronavirus transmission, the entire food chain is evolving to meet the new safety need. For more information, you can review the guidance to growers, consumers and markets that food safety expert Achyut Adhikari with the LSU Ag Center has released.

Picks of the Week:

CCFM Drive Thru

Drive Thru Markets are now weekly! The next one will take place on Sunday, May 17th at Parkway Bakery and Tavern from 8am to noon. These markets are PRE-ORDER ONLY – orders can be placed between Wednesdays at 11 pm and Fridays at 11 pm! Click here for more information on the vendor line-up, offerings, ordering and pickup process. Reminder: Purchases can also be made using SNAP benefits. For SNAP purchases, shoppers should call Market Umbrella staff at (504) 495-1459 after creating a customer account for SNAP verification.

Big thanks to Parkway Bakery and Tavern who has graciously provided us space to hold our Drive Thru Market. Their commitment to the city of New Orleans and local food knows no bounds. We will be cheering Parkway on their grand reopening offering parking lot pickup service starting tomorrow, Tuesday May, 12th.

Photo credit Katie Sikora Instagram Facebook

CCFM Box

Crescent City Farmers Market has partnered with Top Box Foods and the Refresh Farmers Market (SPROUT NOLA) to provide you with healthy, local, and affordable food delivered to your home. The $40 CCFM box contains 8-12 items from CCFM vendors, mostly produce, and is now offered once weekly. Ordering starts Tuesday and runs through Friday for a Tuesday or Wednesday delivery on the following week. Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for updates. Order online at Top Box Foods New Orleans. When you get your box, tag us in a pic of all the great dishes you make with it - we love new recipes!

Market Match, our program that doubles SNAP dollars spent, does apply so SNAP users can purchase the box for only $20! Choose “pay at pickup” and Top Box will contact you directly to process your SNAP payment.

Market Umbrella Makes It a SNAP!

GiveNOLA Day is only 3 weeks away!

The portal is now open to schedule your gift for GiveNOLA Day! Please, take a moment now to schedule your donation and join us in this upcoming community giving event which will culminate on June 2. Donations ensure Market Umbrella has the critical resources needed to respond to new challenges and new opportunities in our local food system. Your support is particularly needed as we navigate these unprecedented times that are giving new meaning to our mission of public markets for public good. Your gift will not only support the future and growth of the organization but also will allow us to continue to facilitate aggregated produce box deliveries; organize drive thru, pick up markets; and offer programs like Market Match (which is available for both the delivery box and drive thru markets) that doubles the buying power of vulnerable families in our community.

Photo credit Katie Sikora Instagram Facebook

Vendor of the Week:

Indian Springs Farmers Association

Indian Springs Farmers Association is a staple vendor at CCFM. You probably recognize them for their tables at market consistently full of quality and affordable produce. (These powerhouse producers make the 2+ hour drive all the way from Mississippi multiple times a week to participate in our markets and home delivery.) With our regular markets on hold, this community of farmers is busy providing fresh veggies throughout the NOLA community. Not only are they helping to fill our CCFM home delivery box and the Feed the Second Line box, they are also working with other CCFM vendors like River Queen Greens, VEGGI Coop and Major Acre Farm helping to round out their respective CSA offerings too! Follow the links to shop and show you support this community of hard working producers! SPROUT NOLA is on a mission to make farming accessible to everyone! Working towards a better food system by helping developing (and established) farmers with technical and social support to build a strong, more equipped community of growers in New Orleans.

Recipe of the Week:

Slow-Cooked Summer Squash with Lemon and Thyme

While there are a million ways to cook veggies, roasting them in the oven is one of the easiest. Roasting squash allows it to caramelize and get tender (but not too soft!). The recipe calls for thyme, but other herbs such as rosemary or oregano sprigs work just as well. You can eat these as a side dish, using a piece of bread to sop up the pan juices, or throw them on rice or pasta. Garden tip: it’s not too late to start squash or any of the herbs mentioned here. Speed up the process and pick up starts from Mizell farm at the Drive Thru market on Sundays. Cheers to these sunny, first-of-the-season veggies!

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!