When Tragedy Struck a Maryland Community, a Local Farmer was There to Help

      Posted On: November 30, 2016

Rosa helps customers at her stand at Crossroads Farmers Market

When Rosa Linares immigrated to the United States from El Salvador, she never imagined her dream and life-long love of farming could continue. She believed the days of tending crops in the warm sun and cool soil were long behind her. Until she met Michelle.

Michelle Dudley is the market manager at Crossroads Farmers Market– an FMC Member Market and vibrant, multi-cultural marketplace, serving a predominantly immigrant shopper base in Takoma Park, Maryland. When Michelle invited Rosa to join Crossroads as a vendor, hope for returning to her farming roots renewed.

“Rosa’s journey selling at Crossroads began with only a few small baskets of herbs and greens from her garden. Through Crossroads’ Microenterprise Training Program, Rosa learned how to improve her production and market her goods to the community.”

This education allowed Rosa to turn a small, suburban plot of land into a successful farming business. That’s how, when dozens of her neighbors were displaced after a devastating apartment fire, Rosa was eager to help with food donations from her farm. Takoma Park is a stronger, healthier community because of Rosa.

But Rosa’s success is born from tireless, behind-the-scenes efforts to strengthen farmers markets.

For ten years, the Farmers Market Coalition has been on the frontline, working hard as a policy advocate and resource center for thousands of markets like Crossroads, to ensure they have the knowledge and tools necessary for continued success. With help from FMC, farmers markets across the country have nearly doubled in the last decade, from just 4,385 markets in 2006, to over 8,600 in 2016. That means thousands more communities now have neighbors like Rosa.

Like you, we know when farmers markets thrive, communities thrive. That’s why I’m asking you to invest $25 in the future of farmers markets today. Your generous donation will enable us to support an expanding community of farmers markets and small farmers like Rosa–not just for tomorrow, but for generations to come.

Yours in good food and community,

Jen Cheek
Executive Director, Farmers Market Coalition

P.S. Donate $50 or more by Sunday, December 4, and be entered for a chance to win FMC’s official I ‘Heart’ Farmers Markets t-shirt!

Want to learn more about the amazing impacts Crossroads Farmers Markets makes in its community? Check out this beautiful mini-documentary showcasing the important ways Crossroads serves as a vibrant intersection of urban and rural, connecting people from diverse backgrounds over healthy, local food!