Harvey Park Farmers Market aims to increase food access in southwest Denver without pricing out locals
DENVER — Farmers market season is upon us, and this year, Denver welcomes a new addition to its roster of spring and summertime bazaars. The Harvey Park Farmers Market, opening Saturday, May 2 at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, will bring a producers-only farmers market — all food, no artisan crafts — to southwest Denver.
There are about 20 farmers markets in the Denver metropolitan area. Until now, none existed in the city’s southwest region, the lower part of Denver’s “inverted-L,” where residents are less white, more likely to be displaced and have less food access than other neighborhoods.
Lack of food access has long been a concern in southwest Denver, where some neighborhoods have been deemed “food deserts,” meaning they have limited access to affordable, nutritious food. Several pockets of Harvey Park are more than one mile away from a grocery store, including the area near the new farmers market site.
Several organizations, like Re:Vision’s no-cost grocery program in Westwood and Commún’s food distribution program in Harvey Park South, are working to address food inaccessibility in the area.
Eleven-year Harvey Park resident Allie Bronston, who spent the last 18 months organizing the new farmers market with her husband, Corey Sampson, hopes the market will be another resource to improve her neighbors’ access to fresh groceries.
But farmers markets can be a sign of a gentrifying neighborhood, with higher-priced food items drawing in a whiter, wealthier crowd. Several recent studies have found that farmers markets contribute to ecological gentrification because they make neighborhoods more “desirable,” raising property values and spurring new development. Once a majority-Latino neighborhood, the population in Harvey Park has trended slightly more white in the last 15 years, according to U.S. Census data.
“I certainly have some reservations about [the market] because I do think that … a lot of farmers markets can also be in correlation with gentrifying a neighborhood,” said Marisol Jurado, co-owner of Migas Coffee, one of the vendors slated for the Harvey Park Farmers Market.
Jurado grew up in southwest Denver, living in Harvey Park 20 years ago, before moving to Bear Valley. Her parents still own their house in the neighborhood, a few blocks from the namesake park, close to the future site of the market.
“I am curious to see what community members show up to the farmer's market. Previously, this was a very Latino, Spanish-speaking neighborhood, and I definitely want that community to show up as well. And I want to make sure that we can provide that access to them,” she said.
Bronston acknowledged that farmers markets can be exclusionary because they offer locally grown food, which often comes with a higher price tag, and do not always provide a space conducive to families or young children. She designed the market with her neighborhood’s diverse community in mind.
Shoppers can use their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits at the market, and those shoppers will receive up to $20 of that money back to spend on produce through the Double Up Food Bucks program. The Harvey Park Farmers Market is the only participating Double Up Food Bucks location in 80219, Denver’s most populous ZIP code.
The process to make the market eligible for the Double Up program was extensive, with lots of paperwork and contracts, Bronston said, which might be why other retailers in the area haven’t applied.
Bronston said she and Sampson met with local nonprofits, checked which foods are SNAP-eligible and consulted their neighbors’ grocery lists to determine what vendors and items should be available at the market.
“We wanted it to be reflective of the food culture that already exists [here],” Bronston said. She made it a point to include popular vendors from the neighborhood, like Tortilleria Las III Americas and boba shop Teahee, both on Federal Boulevard.
Growing up in southwest Denver, Jurado said local carnicerias (butcher shops) were central to her family’s grocery shopping. They also served as an important space for community and cultural connection. Besides those neighborhood bodegas, Jurado said her family relied on their car — which luckily, they had — to get groceries, even though the closest grocery store didn’t have the freshest produce.
“There's a lot of community members that don't have that same luxury [of a car],” Jurado said. “So at least in Harvey Park it'll be nice that, you know, a lot of people will be able to walk here and have access to fresh fruits.”
Jurado, who is in the middle of moving her shop from Five Points to 16th Street, is excited to bring her coffee cart to her home neighborhood, within walking distance of her family.
This will be Jurado’s first time selling at a farmers market. Several other vendors will make their farmers market debut May 2, including Hummus Capara, Skinny P. Ranch and Harvey Park-based Rebel Farm, a hydroponic farm that sells its produce to restaurants like Alma Fonda Fina and Brutø.
Paul and Chelsie Fleischer, who run Fleischer Family Farm from their home in Lakewood, three miles from the market site, thought they had put their farmers market days behind them. The couple used to sell their produce at the Union Station Farmers Market, but after opening a farm stand on their property and expanding their CSA program, the hassle of transporting and setting up at a farmers market didn’t make sense for their business anymore.
But they made an exception for the Harvey Park Farmers Market.
“I think [Bronston] asked like a million times. And on the millionth time Paul was like, OK,” Chelsie Fleischer said. “This one is truly, you know, within a community that needs it. And we recognize that. And I think it's important to show up for it.”
The Fleischers started their farm business in 2015 when they lived in Ruby Hill, another southwest Denver neighborhood. Committing to the farmers market means more harvesting, more transportation costs and more staff — all during a “100-year drought” unlike anything the Fleischers have ever seen, one that makes Paul “crazy nervous.”
Despite their concerns about this year’s harvest, shared by farmers across the state, the Fleischers didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to help improve healthy food access in the community. Fleischer Family Farm will set up at the Harvey Park Farmers Market every other Saturday.
Bronston hopes that the new market, which will be held in the parking lot of Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, adjacent to Harvey Park, will also provide a coveted “third space” for the community. Third spaces are gathering places that people don’t need to spend money to exist in. Although market-goers have the opportunity to buy food, Bronston doesn’t want people to feel obligated to spend money in order to enjoy the space. With a nearby playground and gazebo, as well as live music, Bronston said she tried to cater the market to families.
“You can show up and purchase something from the farmer's market, but you can also show up and just be in community with people,” Jurado said. “And that, I think, is a really strong value of [Bronston’s], which I appreciate, and I hope that the community shows up and that they see that.”
Vendors, like Jurado, are looking forward to connecting with the community themselves. The Fleischers and Rebel Farm’s James O’Brien hope the market will make more people aware of the local produce they offer throughout the year, not just on Saturdays or during farmers market season. O’Brien said he’s excited to connect with other farmers, as well, to share advice and best practices.
The Harvey Park Farmers Market will include 55 vendors, including Harvey Park Flowers, Athmar Farms and Cultura Chocolate. The market will kick off Saturday, May 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy. You can find more information about location and vendors here.
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