A new farmers market may open in Green Valley next year.
Documents filed with the county last week outline plans to hold a Friday night market in John Robinson, Jr. Town Square. A cause of exhibition filed through CARE, Inc. promises “a convenient and varied marketplace of local food manufacturers and vendors who will culturally supply applicable products, data, and facilities to foster networking and decorate the nutritional experience. “
Operating from five p. m. to 8 p. m. Between April and November, the Green Valley Farmers Market would also seek to address food distrust and address some network considerations about public safety and drug use in and around the park at 2400 S. Shirlington Road.
“The Green Valley Civic Association is constantly questioned for its negative habits in this area,” reads one justification. “We believe that the negative habit does not prevail when activities are scheduled at the level or in the vicinity of the [municipal plaza]. ”
Located across from The Shelton, a residential building, the market would be SNAP-compliant and also offer cooking demonstrations and other information on how to prepare the products sold there.
The line outside the nearby Arlington Food Assistance Center site is part of a block during food distributions, Long-Term Market Director Portia Clark told ARLnow. But not everyone who could benefit from it uses NWAC and many families in the neighborhood infrequently. they skip food or go without healthy food, he said.
“A lot of other people say they probably wouldn’t come because they don’t need to, but then they stay home and get hungry,” he said.
Clark, who is also president of the Green Valley Civic Association, said part of the challenge is limited to groceries in Green Valley. Lack of food confidence is especially bad in the summer, he said, because some young people who get loose or reduced-price lunches at school don’t have other foods to eat at home.
“They don’t have food places to go to, or the advertising is rarely transparent enough for them to know where to pass out and get food if they’re hungry,” Clark said.
The plaza near Drew Park and the Charles Drew Community Center is already a popular gathering place for many current and former citizens of the neighborhood. However, reports of public drunkenness and occasional violent crime (added to several shootings in 2023) have ruined the area’s reputation.
Clark hopes a Friday night farmers market can lessen the riots and replace public perceptions.
“We’re looking to create a more positive atmosphere, where other people don’t know about Green Valley because of all the negative things that happen,” he said.
Plans for the farmers market call for 10 to 12 vendor tents to start; the park will be giant enough to house up to 20 vendors. Tents would likely begin setting up at 3 p. m. , and parking along S. Shirlington Road and 24th Street S. would be reserved for vendors and food trucks on market days.
Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School, Macedonia Baptist Church and Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lomax have all come forward to allow shoppers to park in their parking lots, according to the show’s cause-and-effect statement. The nearest existing farmers market is about two miles away and operates on Sundays at 2820 Columbia Pike.
First, Clark had hoped to open a market in Green Valley this spring, but experienced a series of delays in obtaining a permit. He now hopes his proposal will be approved by the Arlington County Council in October.