together we can PRESERVE Heart of the city farmers’ market

Heart of the City Farmers’ Market (HOCFM), an independent, farmer-operated non-profit 501(c)(4) organization, seeks donations to help provide food assistance to low-income households and support small farmers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We operate the largest farmers’ market food access program in the nation, distributing more than $1.5 million in food assistance each year in the form of tokens and vouchers at our information tent to support low-income households, while bringing much-needed revenue to our region’s most vulnerable small farmers.

For the first time in this market’s 40-year history, the future of our iconic market is threatened by the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfire seasons, and public health challenges facing Civic Center. Our vendors are reporting financial losses due to office closures, the loss of our parking lot, and the relocation of our market to Fulton Plaza after 42 years on the UN Plaza. More than 40% of vendors have gone out of business at Heart of the City Farmers’ Market since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

At the same time, our food access programs continue to grow. We distribute food assistance to over 12,000 unduplicated low-income participants and serve a struggling extremely low-income neighborhood that lacks a grocery store.

Our new Friday farmers’ market was permanently closed as of March 2020 due to the impacts of the pandemic.  In July 2023, our Wednesday and Sunday markets reduced their hours to 7am to 4pm. Help us preserve our Wednesday and Sunday market days and keep us a stable resource for our community and participating small farmers! Donate to our “Save the Market” Campaign.

“Save THE MARKET” CAMPAIGN

Please donate to help Heart of the City Farmers’ Market provide food to low-income households and support small farmers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.  You donation will make a big impact: 

  • $5 – Pay a struggling farmers’ agriculture permit fee for one week during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • $5 – Match a low-income household’s EBT purchase of $5 with an additional $5 for fruits and vegetables

  • $20 – Fund masks and face shields for staff for one market day

  • $55 – Pay a farmers’ stall fee when they can’t participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • $100 – Hire bilingual support to distribute food assistance for 5 hours

  • $235 – Hire bilingual support to distribute food assistance for a full market day

  • $550 – Buy a cart to help staff set up extra social distancing equipment and tents during COVID-19

Click here to donate to our “Save the Market” Campaign or contact info@hotcfarmersmarket.org to learn more.

A CHANGING FUTURE

Our beloved Heart of the City Farmers’ Market will look different going forward. The negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and California’s devastating wildfire seasons reduced the number of participating vendors and suspended many of our non-essential outreach programs, including healthy eating workshops, on-site cooking demonstrations, on-site EBT enrollment, and other community programs. Going forward, we will remain focused on addressing food insecurity in the heart of the city and growing to sustain rapid participation growth in our food access programs. On November 6, 2020, Heart of the City Farmers’ Market’s management team gave a presentation hosted by the San Francisco Public Library to discuss these impacts and explain our focus going forward. You can view the YouTube recording of the presentation here, read a transcript of the presentation here, or see the presentation’s slides below for more details about our vision for the future.

THANK YOU FRIENDS

We are enormously grateful to the following community partners for their support of Heart of the City Farmers’ Market during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to prevent the market’s closure:

  • The SF Soda Tax (San Francisco Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax) and the SFDPH PHD Food Security Program through the Healthy Food Purchasing Supplements Program from the San Francisco Public Health Foundation

  • The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Grant Program from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

  • The California Nutrition Incentive Program from the California Department of Food and Agriculture

  • Stupski Foundation’s COVID Relief Grant

  • Additional support from Kaiser Permanente and Bi-Rite Family of Businesses

  • Fair Food Network COVID Rapid Response Grant & Nutrition Incentive Hub Innovation Fund

  • The Violet World Foundation

  • The McNabb Foundation

  • Dumpling Club SF

  • USDA Gus Schmacher Nutrition Incentive Program Grant, awarded through Ecology Center’s Market Match Program

  • Schwab Charitable Grant - Albert Hu and Angelica Qiang

  • Fidelity Charitable Grant - Estes Lai

Heart of the City Farmers’ Market partnered with Matter of Trust to launch an individual giving program for the first time as we continue to encourage the community to join us in preserving this special market. As a sponsored project of Matter of Trust, this 501c3 fiscal intermediary relationship allows us to accept tax-deductible donations from individuals. Click here to donate.