Summer officially begins in the Eastern Time Zone of Michigan’s Great Southwest at 12:24am this Wednesday morning, which means that by the time the first Benton Harbor Farmers Market opens for the new season, summer goodness will be on display ready for your enjoyment in the heart of downtown Benton Harbor.
The Benton Harbor Farmers Market opens for the season at 10am on Wednesday, June 21st, and will operate in the Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park in downtown Benton Harbor from 10am until 4pm every Wednesday throughout the season.
Each week from opening day through the end of September, the Benton Harbor Farmers Market will offer a wide variety of locally-grown and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. The market gladly welcomes Bridge Cards (EBT), Senior Project FRESH, and WIC Project FRESH coupons. For another year the market will also offer people with Bridge Cards an opportunity to double their spending power with the Double Up Food Bucks program.
Community members shopping at the market this summer will enjoy a variety of activities, to include cooking demonstrations from Lakeland Health, taste tests of the fresh produce available, and games for children. Nicki Britten is Health Officer at the Berrien County Health Department. She says, “There’s no better way to strengthen our local community than to shop and eat locally.” Britten adds, “By visiting the Benton Harbor Farmers Market, residents are supporting our local farmers, our economy, and our community as well as getting healthy and fresh food for themselves and their families.”
The Benton Harbor Farmers Market is operated by the Berrien County Health Department and supported by grant funding from Be Healthy Berrien through the United Way of Southwest Michigan. New vendors are welcome and encouraged to contact the Berrien County Health Department for more information.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market.com was taken at the Benton Harbor market in August of 2010, one of the first years of that new market’s arrival on the scene, and it has grown nicely through the years.
