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Crowds Grow As Danbury Farmers Market Reports Increased Turnout

DANBURY, Conn. — Over 400 new customers and 270 children on a visit from the YMCA were among those who enjoyed gathering for 19 Fridays from late June through October for the sixth season of the Danbury Farmers Market at Kennedy Park.

Mayor Mark Boughton poses with a young shopper at the Danbury Farmers Market this summer.

Mayor Mark Boughton poses with a young shopper at the Danbury Farmers Market this summer.

Photo Credit: Nicole Kasseris
Daily Voice

The Danbury Farmers' Market Community Collaborative (DFMCC), which oversees the market at Main and Elm streets along with CityCenter Danbury, reported healthy increases in turnout, a result of its nutrition-in-action program "Better Health Through Better Food."

The Danbury Farmers Market is known for its efforts to provide access to fresh food by target-marketing deep in the community and developing services to reach a large group of consumers.

The collaborative's outreach provided more than $40,000 in incentives through such services as:

  • Accepting and matching Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps, up to $15 per week, by enabling SNAP recipients to use their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, a 60 percent increase from the previous year.
  • Matching low-income senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) vouchers and providing more than 1,000 seniors and veterans with DFMCC "Fruit & Veggie" gift certificates.
  • Matching 1,170 vouchers distributed by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
  • Ensuring that shoppers could afford a visit by providing 200 HART bus passes.

"A farmers market is a win-win situation," says Peggy Zamore, nutritionist and market coordinator. "Better Food. Better Health. Connecticut grown." 

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