The former market on 7th Street will now be held at Sacred Heart Hospital on Thursdays, June through October 2016
Allentown, Pennsylvania – Rodale Institute’s Organic Market on 7th will be moving location, day, and hours of operation for the 2016 market season to Sacred Heart Hospital’s Sigal Center, located at 450 W. Chew Street, Allentown. The organic market will be known as Rodale Institute Organic Market at Sacred Heart and will operate on Thursdays from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, June through October. Although the organic market is changing locations, it will continue to serve the residents of downtown Allentown, and improve the overall wellness of the community through its mission of increasing access to affordable, organically grown, local produce. Rodale Institute’s Organic Market at the YMCA (425 S. 15th Street, Allentown) will continue to operate on Saturdays from 9 AM to 1 PM.
Through direct point of sale with customers, the organic market supports a “know your farmer” culture. This culture involves promoting organic farming practices and understanding how a local and organic food-based economy can regenerate the health of our soil, food, and community. Organic market shoppers can expect a variety of organic produce that includes more than 50 types of organic produce over the growing season such as kales, herbs, peppers, tomatoes, squash, melons, and apples. Other participating vendors will include local transitioning organic farms, certified organic farms, and other value added organic businesses. Along with increasing access to fresh, local, and organic produce in a food desert, cooking and nutrition education classes will continue to be offered at the organic market this summer as well as weekly music and entertainment.
Affordability of organic produce remains a major focus of the organic market’s mission. Rodale Institute is proud to announce a grant extension for the USDA Federal Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program (FINI) for the 2016 market season. This extension will allow the organic markets to continue to match SNAP purchases dollar for dollar, thus reducing the price of healthy, local organic produce to customers that utilize SNAP benefits by half. The organic market also accepts the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.
The decision to relocate the organic market to Sacred Heart Hospital was made by a group of community stakeholders and Rodale Institute in the interest of building awareness for both the organic markets and Agriculture Supported Communities (ASC) Program simultaneously. For the past three seasons, Rodale Institute’s ASC, a “pay-as-you-go” farm share program, has operated a distribution site at Sacred Heart Hospital’s Sigal Center. Combining the programs at Sacred Heart Hospital will increase efficiency of service, and provide more options to the community for purchasing local, organic produce. Rodale Institute is excited for the opportunity to grow its relationship with Sacred Heart Hospital, and continue to improve the overall wellness of the Allentown community. “It is important for our patients and neighbors to be able to access fresh healthy food,” said John Nespoli, President and CEO of Sacred Heart Hospital. “We are glad to host the Organic Market in Allentown and look forward to building on the success of the Farm Share we have in place with Rodale.”
Rodale Institute’s Organic Market at Sacred Heart opens on June 2nd. Rodale Institute’s Organic Market at the YMCA opens on June 4th.
For more information about Rodale Institute’s Organic Farmers’ Markets contact Organic Allentown Program Manager, Jesse Barrett, jesse.barrett@rodaleinstitute.org. To learn more about the ASC Program contact ASC Program Manager, Cynthia James, cynthia.james@rodaleinstitute.org.
Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. For more than sixty years, we have researched the best practices of organic agriculture and shared our findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world, advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest option for people and the planet.
Information Provided By:
Diana Martin
Director of Communications, Rodale Institute
611 Siegfriedale Road
Kutztown, PA 19530-9320 USA
Email: Diana.Martin@RodaleInstitute.org
