together we can PRESERVE OUR HISTORIC MARKET
Heart of the City Farmers’ Market is an independent, farmer-operated, non-profit 501(c)(4) organization and seeks donations to help provide food assistance to low-income households and support small farmers after the COVID-19 pandemic. We operate one of the largest farmers’ market food access programs in the nation, distributing more than $4 million in food assistance each year from our information tent to support low-income households, while generating much-needed revenue for struggling 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 challenges facing San Francisco’s 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 went out of business at Heart of the City Farmers’ Market during the pandemic. Our new Friday farmers’ market was permanently closed after March 2020 due to its negative impacts. In July 2023, our Wednesday and Sunday markets reduced their hours to 7am to 4pm.
At the same time, our food access programs continue to grow and we are rising to meet the challenge. We distributed food assistance to over 12,000 unduplicated low-income participants this year and continue to serve a struggling extremely low-income neighborhood that lacks a full-service grocery store. Help us preserve this historic market and keep us a stable resource for our community and farmers.
Donate to help Heart of the City Farmers’ Market provide fruits and vegetables to low-income households and support small farmers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
We are 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. 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 501(c)(3) fiscal intermediary relationship allows us to accept tax-deductible donations from individuals. Click here to donate.
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
Additional support from Kaiser Permanente
The Violet World Foundation
The Schwab Charitable Foundation