The Ward 8 Farmers’ Market will expand this year, creating the only weekday farmers market east of the Anacostia River. This new market opens June 8; it will be open from 3:00 - 7:00 pm each Tuesday through October 26. The market will operate from the parking lot of United Medical Center (1310 Southern Ave SE).
Both locations will accept EBT cards issued in DC, SNAP cards issued in Maryland, the new WIC Cash Value Checks (CVC), and other food assistance coupons such as those offered by the WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.
Equally exciting and important is the role the Ward 8 Farmers' Market plays in bringing vegetables and fruit to corner stores in Congress Heights. With the help of a grant from the Capital Area Food Bank, the farmer's market will pilot the Corner Store Initiative, an effort to make affordable healthy food available to residents of underserved neghborhoods. The recent DC Hunger Solutions report When Healthy Food is out of Reach supports the need for this new initiative. The report drove home the point that too many neighborhoods in the District are food deserts.
