“Thanks to the partnership with The Common Market, along with other wholesalers, the City of Baltimore is now supplying 95 sites with 20,000 boxes of perishable food per week, totaling over 9.2 million pounds of food over the course of the pandemic,” says Holly Freishtat, Baltimore City Food Policy Director.
"The Community Health team partnered with nonprofits and local organizations to deliver vegetables, fruit, eggs, bread and yogurt to needy individuals and families. A key partner was The Common Market, a national nonprofit that distributes food from sustainable family farms to communities in need."
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program significantly increased access to fresh food in Philadelphia, particularly in neighborhoods that suffered the double-burden of economic instability and vulnerability to infection. Though the USDA program itself met some critique on the national level, in Philadelphia it was largely successful in supporting greater food access, and also returned value to regional farms.
[The Common Market Mid-Atlantic] recently finished a seven-month, $6 million contract with the City of New York to pack and deliver more than 230,000 pantry boxes to address adult food insecurity. “Hearing directly from people about what it means to not open a box with processed sugary foods, but something fresh and nutritious — we’re giving humanity back to people through distribution and food access efforts.”
"To be essential, it means a lot. Being out there on the frontlines with everyone else. Even if it is on the smaller end — you’re still out there helping out."
"Sleeger said non-profits were a game-changer, such as The Common Market in Philadelphia. The Common Market is a non-profit distributor that connects local farms to communities and anchor institutions like Lehigh."
“The Common Market has been a great resource to the diverse community served by the William Penn School District, which has been able to provide healthy food access in neighborhoods rocked by both the pandemic and years of economic disinvestment,” shared PA Senator Tim Kearney.
"Sometimes a produce box holds more than fresh vegetables and fruit.
It also contains the labor of Pennsylvania farmers and farm workers, truck drivers, relationship-building and evidence-based information from Penn State Extension staff, the passion of 4-H youth and leaders, a mission-focused community development group, the grit of a community organizer, locally grown fruit and vegetables from an innovative non-profit regional food distributor, and potential for growing healthy communities.
We are going to have to find a bigger box."
“People have been brave. Our drivers are out on the front lines, and they were like: ‘We’re here. We’re ready to serve.’ They didn’t hesitate. I’ll remember how brave the farmers were, too. I have been so impressed at how everyone has leaped in and said, ‘We are going to keep moving and figure out how to help each other.’”
“During this time of uncertainty, we are honored to invest in our small- to medium-scale farmers, and in turn, nourish New Yorkers in need of food access,” said The Common Market Mid-Atlantic’s Executive Director, Yael Lehmann. "Local, healthy, fresh food makes a difference in one's mental and physical well-being — we're proud to source and deliver it, and serve a part in the city's emergency food relief efforts."
"Being able to incorporate seasonal, local, and sustainable products into the menu at a recovery center is challenging, but the impact it has on the nutritional value in the food and experience with our guests is astonishing."
— Chef Skyler Hanka, Prairie Recovery Center