Our Mission & History
Our Mission & History
Our Mission
The South Memphis Farmers Market is dedicated to rebuilding, restoring, and renewing the South Memphis community through providing access to healthy, affordable foods and nutrition education.
Our History
The SMFM is the first project of South Memphis Revitalization Action Plan (SoMeRAP). SoMeRAP is a resident-led effort to transform South Memphis into one of the region's premier urban neighborhoods of choice by mobilizing local residents, institutions, and their allies to implement a comprehensive economic and community development strategy. One of the key areas of focus in the plan is healthy living, including creating access to healthy foods in the South Memphis community. Throughout the SoMeRAP planning process, residents consistently identified access to healthy foods as one of their highest priorities.
In March of 2010, as the plan was entering the final stages of adoption by the Memphis City Council, the community formed the SMFM planning committee and got to work on opening the market. Our grand opening ceremony was held on July 15, 2010, opening the market with nine vendors.
During our farmers market season in 2019, we welcomed over 4,700 patrons, ran 13 cooking demos, and hosted performances from seven local music artists and bands. In 2020, we successfully adapted operations at our farmers market to meet safety standards related to Covid-19, welcomed over 4,200 patrons, and unveiled our updated SoMe Fresh Savings matching program which assisted over 268 seniors and SNAP-EBT recipients over the course of the season.
Our seasonal farmers market is now heading into our 12th season of creating a consistent access point to fresh produce in the South Memphis neighborhood!
The South Memphis Farmers Market is a program of The Works, Inc., a community development corporation serving South Memphis and surrounding neighborhoods since 1998.
How to find us
How to find us
Location
The South Memphis Farmers Market, The Grocer, and the Kitchen are all located at 1400 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38106.
Hours
The South Memphis Farmers Market is open Thursdays, 8am-1pm, June-September.
The Grocer is open year-round, Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm, Saturday, 10am - 5pm, and is closed on Sundays.
Our Kitchen is open throughout the week for cooking classes and additional educational programming.
Our Staff
Our Staff
Meet Our Staff
Karen Bernard
Food Programs Coordinator
Manages Seasonal Farmers Market and Kitchen programming.
Isabel Glen
Food Programs Intern
The South Memphis Farmers Market is run through The Works, Inc., a community development corporation located in South Memphis. To learn more about The Works, Inc., visit http://theworkscdc.org