Every Friday from 11 to 2pm at Kennedy Plaza along Burnside Park

Return to the Downtown Providence Market page for Directions and What's Fresh.

Increasing the Vibrancy of Downtown Providence

Farmers' markets increase our quality of life! A recent study found that customers at farmers' markets are 10 times as likely to be participating in a conversation than customers at a conventional supermarket. By stepping into the public arena and meeting the people we live with, the people who grow our foods, we increase our general wellbeing. Think of the atmosphere of a farmers' market: A mixture of shapes, sizes, colors and ages happily mingling and marveling, socializing while also completing a necessary chore: food-shopping.

Not only to do farmers' markets increase our quality of life, they also increase our economic wellbeing. Consider this: for every one dollar spend at a non-locally owned business, 17 cents returns to the local community. For every dollar spent at a locally owned business, 47 cents returns to a local pocket. It makes cents to create a market for local goods in the center of our city.

The Downtown Providence Market is in an ideal location for a farmers' market; less than a 5 mintues walk for residents of newly renovated downtown lofts, for city and state workers, and the thousands of daily RIPTA bus riders. The Downtown Market will help attract residents to this downtown area by offering a satisfying source of fresh foods. More, the Downtown Market will reinforce a sense of community, of art, of connectedness, and of utilized space that Providence's downtown seeks.

Increasing Farm Viability through Market Access

The Downtown Market will increase options for local farmers to sell their products. Its difficult to buy an apple grown in a Rhode Island Orchard at any Providence supermarket. Farmers aren't always able to provide the quantity or consistency supermarkets need and so instead most foods sold at supermarkets are shipped from far away.

Farmers' markets, on the other hand, serve the needs of both the farmer and the consumer. The Downtown Market will be a perfect example. Farmers will bring what is ripe and plentiful. Consumers will be offered the freshest, most flavorful foods one can buy. By selling their products direct, farmers make a more reasonable income. In the United States, on average, only 5 cents of every dollar spent on food goes back to the farmer's pocket. The opportunity to sell directly helps farmers stay in business.

Keeping local farmers in business benefits Rhode Island. By keeping farms viable, we are helping to preserve open space as well as the historical traditions of the Southern New England area. When a farm becomes planted with houses, it no longer tells the story of how people interact with the land -- now and years ago. More, the landscape created by regional farming makes New England what we know it to be. Imagine Rhode Island without roadside stands or cows grazing in the pasture!

Increasing Access to Nutritious Foods by Low-Income Citizens

The Downtown Market will benefit the Rhode Island region by increasing access to fresh and nutritious foods. RIPTA riders will have an opportunity to head to the Downtown Market for fresh roasted sweet corn! Why not eat a healthy burrito made with locally grown cilantro, peppers, potatoes and onions? Or French fries made with local sweet potatoes? Downtown Market will increase access of many of Providence's underprivileged populations to nutritious foods -- serving it up in fresh and appealing forms.

Residents from Olneyville will be able to reach the Downtown Market because of it proximity to Kennedy Plaza Bus Station. There is no farmers' market currently in Olneyville, the poorest section of town. The Downtown Market will offer fresh as well as prepared foods to people of Olneyville. An emphasis will be made to offer foods which are culturally appropriate to the diversity of people in our community: the Market will carry an array of locally grown produce items as well as imported tropical fruits.

Help Us Grow a Good Idea

While there are currently over 30 farmers' markets in Rhode Island, the Downtown Market will stand alone. Its unique location will appeal to a diverse cross-section of the Rhode Island population. Its design will stem from lessons learned at other farmers' markets in the State and across the country. It has the potential to become a main tourist draw -- bringing day visitors in from Connecticut and Massachusetts. It has the potential to become an icon of our state, a symbol of what Rhode Islanders believe in: good food, fresh air, a strong local economy and a vibrant sense of community.