Health promotion

Celebrate CalFresh Month at MCM on May 8th!

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Health promotion | Leave a comment

DSC_0353Many people don’t know that CalFresh is the new name for California’s electronic food stamp benefit program. Federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), CalFresh can help low-income Mission families put healthy and nutritious food on the table. We’re celebrating CalFresh customers this month at MCM, and on May 8th we’ll have a special CalFresh Awareness Day!

Mission Community Market has accepted food stamp benefits since its inception, and we partnered with The Bi-Rite Family of Businesses in late 2013 to offer a dollar-for-dollar match (up to $10) for patrons who shop at the market with their CalFresh card. This benefit was previously offered in 2012 and we were thrilled to bring it back this season with Bi-Rite’s support.  CalFresh users can swipe their card every week at the market for up to $10 in free produce!

Join us on May 8th as we feature:

A Presentation from Bi-Rite! Join us at 6:00 pm when Sam Mogannam will say a few words.

Giveaways – The first 50 CalFresh customers get a free item ($3-6 value) donated by MCM vendors! Choose from fruit and veggies, salsa, mini jams, baguettes, and more!

Benefits Pre-Screenings From SF-Marin Food Bank – You may qualify for CalFresh benefits – Talk to a specialist!

An Urban Sprouts Healthy Cooking Demo  – Learn to cook with what you can get at the market!

Community Outreach Tables – Chat with folks from The Women’s Building and The Shanti Project

Live Music from Benjamin Brown at 4 pm and Dean Harlem at 6 pm

Join us for a great day at MCM and celebrate healthy eating with us!

The Mercado Match is Back!

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Health promotion | Leave a comment

Wondering what kind of awesome programming MCM offers to the community with funds from our fundraising efforts?

One example is a recent partnership with the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses, which will enable us to bring back the Mercado Match program, which we previously offered in 2011 and 2012.

This wildly popular matching benefit gives CalFresh (food stamp) users up to $10 free to use toward fresh fruit and vegetables when they swipe their card at the market. Beginning Thursday December 5th, 2013, we’ll make this weekly benefit available as long as possible to help incentivize grocery shopping at the market this holiday season and on into 2014. If you’re an EBT user, come by the MCM info booth this Thursday to learn more! 

The Mission Community Market would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Bi-Rite for their generosity!

We Need Your Donation to Keep the Mercado Magic Alive

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, For Kids, Health promotion, Live Music, Mercado Plaza, murals, public art | Leave a comment
We are asking for your support to continue to bring the mercado magic to you every week! Please donate to MCM this holiday season by clicking here.

youth in urban sprouts cut outs

Mission Community Market was created by the people and for the people of the Mission.  Our weekly market is full of healthy, farm fresh products, small artisans, and local music. Add friendly faces with a place to gather and enjoy delicious dinner with your family, and you have the makings of a place con corazón, with heart!

MCM goes beyond the friendly farmers market by also offering the following unique ingredients:

Bilingual Health Promotion and Mission Mercado Match

To help reduce obesity and diabetes, we provide bilingual cooking demonstrations, a play space, and the nutritional resources you need to make everyday cooking fun and healthy. MCM is proud to offer these programs thanks to a strong partnership with Urban Sprouts and the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN). Thanks to another partnership with Bi-Rite Market, MCM doubles the dollars for all WIC and CalFresh (formerly food stamps) participants who shop for healthy produce at our market, supplementing diets of families who are food insecure, especially in the face of current CalFresh budget cuts.

Growing Small Businesses

Artisans and local merchants give MCM the homegrown and neighborhood feel that contributes to the community. For this integral sector of our family of vendors, we provide a platform to reach a weekly audience, technical assistance, access to market, guidance on packaging and marketing products, and sales opportunities to other businesses.

Musicians SOTA chorus w little audienceYouth Arts

Youth can dance, sing or act on the street at MCM. Sometimes it’s their first public performance, and it gives them an opportunity to soar! Participating youth are from Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA), The Marsh Youth Theater, Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8, San Francisco School, Mission Cultural Center, Everett Middle School, Edison Academy, and many others.

The Mercado Plaza – A Sense of Community Space

MCM successfully lead the efforts to create the Mercado Plaza on Bartlett Street. Canopies, lights, wider and beautiful sidewalks, murals and landscaping will make Bartlett a safer shared street. The space will be perfect to host a variety of community events for all – we can’t wait!

Creating a celebrated space and programming for all

Mission Community Market is the only community-based organization whose mission is to bring the diverse people of the Mission together through food, music, murals, or just gathering with neighbors. The Mercado Plaza will enable more positive programming to give back to our community, improve the quality of life in the Mission, and beautify the neighborhood.

We are asking for your support to continue to bring the mercado magic to you every week! Please donate to MCM this holiday season by clicking here.