Updates on Farmers Market Gleaning and how to donate

Adapting to the COVID-19 world.

The Ballard Farmers Market hours have changed, and are now from 9am-2pm. We are now assisting with the Farm it Forward program to collect food for the food bank, rather than our traditional gleaning.

Farm it Forward: how you can help from home!
The Ballard Alliance put together a program called Farm it Forward, which allows people to donate funds for procuring produce from farmers market vendors to then donate to the food bank. The Seattle Farmers Market Association (SFMA) is working with the Ballard Food Bank to determine the kinds of food they are most in need of. SFMA then uses the funds from Farm it Forward to buy this food from the farmers, and donate it to the Ballard Food Bank. To donate visit the Ballard Alliance Website.

What it means for gleaning
With Farm it Forward, we will not be doing our traditional food collection from individual vendors, to avoid duplicate collection and ensure the Food Bank gets what they need. This program will cut down on the number of people we need for gleaning, since all of the food will be collected in advance. 

Farm it Forward is still in the early stages and is currently planned as a temporary program. Though there is no set end-date, we do plan to go back to our normal gleaning when it does end.

Interested in joining the Market Gleaning team? Contact Jill