Under the shade of a white pop-up canopy in a parking lot in Norfolk’s Berkley neighborhood, a row of massive, green-striped watermelons stretched across a cloth-covered table. Some tipped the scales at 20 pounds or more. As shoppers gathered under the tent to look over baskets of fresh produce, Thelonious Cook hoisted one onto the scale, charging a dollar per pound.
That hands-on connection is the core of a new effort in Berkley this summer: bringing local, Black-grown produce directly to a community organizers say has long been a food desert.
The Mid-Atlantic Black Farmers Market runs the first and third Saturday of each month through November outside E. Palmer Supermarket, a Black-owned grocery store that has served the Berkley neighborhood since 2021. Beyond fresh fruits and vegetables, the market features a wide array of local vendors, with offerings including cold-pressed juices, natural sea moss and handmade skin care products…