For more than 15 years, the Oak Park Farmers Market has spanned McClatchy Park in Sacramento on Saturdays, and the market’s tents are now permanently coming down.
The market’s operators, the Food Literacy Center, announced Wednesday that the farmers market is ceasing operations, citing poor financial viability for the program and low traffic.
“We have struggled to bring customers back to the market, but also farmers,” said Food Literacy Center CEO Amber Stott in a social media announcement. “Without customers, very few farmers can afford to stay at the market. And without farmers, customers don’t come. It’s a cyclical problem.”
Oak Park Farmers Market in difficult economic times
The Oak Park Farmers Market launched in 2010, aiming to fill a gap in one of Sacramento’s underserved communities. At the time, the Oak Park community was a food desert, with extremely limited options for accessing fresh and healthy foods…