Customers

Elliot lives near the Armory Park farmers market and works at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He is a recent graduate of the Brown University Five Year Undergraduate/Masters of Public Health Program.

A long time customer of the Armory Park farmers market, Hawa just finished shopping at one of the many stands run by African farmers. She carries away with her a bag of bitter ball, a vegetable commonly used in West African cuisine.

With the help of her kids Juna and Elia, Minna purchases fruits and vegetables at one of the farm stands.

An acupuncture booth near the produce vendors in Armory Park offers local residents free acupuncture sessions. Patrick, who has lived in the area long enough to see the farmers market’s evolution since it was started, decided to participate.

Marina (not shown) has just finished shopping at the farmers market and is watching her two kids, Adrian and Abigail, as they play with Farm Fresh employees at a coloring station that the employees had set up. While Abigail colors quietly, Adrian is very energetic. (Marina did not wish to have her photo taken, but gave permission for her children.)

Gale came to the farmers market today as a regular customer, but she has also recently been coming to the market as a volunteer. She promotes Hope’s Harvest, a Farm Fresh program that gives people volunteer opportunities to glean surplus produce from local farms to help hunger relief agencies. Gleaning is the practice of collecting leftover crops after a harvest.

She and her son, Jared, requested not to be photographed.

While most people see the farmers market primarily as a source of local produce, Jeff is more interested in the community. He spends most of the market sitting by his good friend Sam, a Farm Fresh employee.

Bryanna was about to pay for her produce when the vendor who accepts WIC took a break, so Bryanna decided to wait in line for the bathroom with her son Micah. Bryanna finds the nutritional benefits offered by WIC confusing but uses a pamphlet to guide her. She enjoys the Broad Street Farmers Market, but prefers the Providence Winter Farmers Market closer to downtown. The winter market used to run year-round, but 2024 is the first year it operates only in the winter due to low summer attendance.

Theresa, the woman in the orange hat, values the Broad Street Farmers Market because its produce reminds her of her home country.

Español: Georgina empezó a venir al mercado muy recientemente. Se enteró de ello cuando alguien del Progreso Latino Food Pantry le dio un volante. 

English: Georgina started coming to the market very recently. She found out about it when someone from the Progreso Latino Food Pantry gave her a flyer. 

Sharna (right) and her daughter Jessica (off screen) stopped by the farmers market after picking up Jessica’s kids, Kamara (left) and Quincy (off screen), from school. This is the second time they’ve stopped by today.

Español: Mirza (derecha) y su amiga (central) compran varias bolsas de productos agrícolas de Teo y Margarita (izquierda), dos agricultores dominicanos populares. La amiga de Mirza no quiso ser entrevistada, pero Mirza le da crédito a ella como la razón por la que se enteró del mercado.

English: Mirza (right) and her friend (center) buy several bags of produce from Teo and Margarita (left), two popular Dominican farmers. Mirza’s friend did not want to be interviewed, but Mirza credits her as the reason she found out about the market.

Español: Manuela sostiene un puerro y algunos cebollines grandísimos. Ella y su amiga, Jacqueline, que no quiso ser fotografiada, hablan de sus experiencias con WIC.

English: Manuela holds a leek and some very large scallions. She and her friend, Jacqueline, who did not want to be photographed, talk about their experiences with WIC. 

Guy comes regularly to the farmers market because it is convenient and accepts his Rhode Island Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program card. 

But that does not make him a happy customer. He claims that the produce does not come from local farms. However, in order to sell at Farm Fresh markets, vendors are required to fill out an application where they affirm 100% of the produce they sell was grown on their farm. Some full-time vendors may apply for a special exemption from this rule for certain products, in which case only 10% of what they sell can consist of items sourced from other local farms.

Español: Javier (derecha) había pasado por el mercado de agricultores una vez antes, pero hoy fue la primera vez que se detuvo. Acaba de terminar de hablar con los dos empleados de Farm Fresh (izquierda) sobre su pasión por las bicis durante 45 minutos.

English: Javier (right) had passed by the farmers market once before, but stopped by for the first time today. He has just finished talking to the two Farm Fresh employees (left) about their passion for bikes for 45 minutes.

Joanne agreed to be interviewed and immediately called out to a stranger, Barbara, to also participate. Barbara was on the way to an appointment at the Thundermist Health Center next to the market. But she didn’t hesitate to join. The two  met on the spot and bonded over horoscopes, grocery shopping, and eye surgery.

In the middle of her shift as a dental assistant at the Thundermist Health Center, Cassandra finds time to stop by the farmers market right outside her work. As a Thundermist employee, she receives a weekly allowance to spend at the market.

Ana just picked up her daughter Abigail from school and decided to visit the farmers market to pick up some produce to make dinner in the evening.

Until recently, Mike was unhoused due to a series of what he calls “unfortunate events.” He used to live in Woonsocket, but now that he managed to get his own apartment in Pawtucket, he only makes the trip back up for appointments at the Thundermist Health Center. He also visited the Rhode Island Department of Health Services (DHS) office, which supplies him with money on an EBT card through SNAP.