Ochsner Partners with Market Umbrella to Bring Crescent City Farmers Market to Jefferson

NEW ORLEANS – In an effort to provide access to fresh food options for employees, patients and neighbors of Ochsner Medical Center–Jefferson Highway, Ochsner Health System has partnered with Market Umbrella to introduce the Crescent City Farmers Market at Ochsner. The inaugural market will be held on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, from 3 - 7 p.m. at 2614 Jefferson Highway (in front of the Ochsner Rehabilitation Hospital).

Every Wednesday, 15 local farmers and vendors will participate in the Crescent City Farmers Market at Ochsner. Confirmed vendors include L’Hoste Citrus, Four Winds Seafood, T&R Dairy and 2 Acre Farm, just to name a few. The market will feature a variety of products, including:

• Local, seasonal fruits and vegetables;
• Grass-fed beef, lamb and pork;
• Local fish, shrimp and crab;
• Fruit, vegetable, herb, flower and bedding plants and plant starts;
• Local honey, honey comb and bee pollen; and
• Baked goods and prepared foods.

“We are looking forward to opening a farmers market on Ochsner’s campus to provide easy access to fresh, locally grown food for our patients, employees and neighbors,” says Emily Arata, Assistant Vice President of Economic Development and Community Initiatives for Ochsner Health System.  “One of the building blocks of a healthy community is accessible, affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.” 

The market will offer more than just a place to shop. Ochsner Eat Fit’s team of nutritionists will present onsite cooking demos with samples and Ochsner’s mobile O Bar will offer the latest in cutting-edge, interactive health technology to help manage health and wellness.

To make fresh food more affordable for low-income residents, the market will offer fresh food incentive programs, including:

• Market Match - a dollar for dollar match of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spent at the market, with up to $20 per market day.
• Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) - many certified vendors will accept FMNP Senior and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) coupons.
• Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), credit cards and checks will be accepted at the market’s Welcome Tent.

Kate Parker, Executive Director for Market Umbrella says, "Our first partnership with a hospital just makes so much sense — good food and good health go hand-in-hand. Between Ochsner Eat Fit, the O Bar's presence, and the fresh food incentive programs that we operate at all of our markets, we are excited to increase healthy food access to the hospital and the neighborhood."

Credit cards and checks will be accepted at the market’s Welcome Tent, and vendors also take cash.

For more information about the Crescent City Farmers Market at Ochsner, please click here.

About Ochsner Health System

Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Driven by a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate, coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner's 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, and more than 200 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Hospital” across three specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner employs nearly 25,000 employees and over 4,500 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties, and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. Ochsner Health is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About Market Umbrella & The Crescent City Farmers Market

The Crescent City Farmers Market directly connects New Orleans consumers with regional farmers, fishers and food producers at seven weekly markets: Tuesdays in Uptown 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 200 Broadway St.; Wednesdays in the Bywater at the corner of Piety and Chartres Streets (beginning January 9, 2018); Thursdays in Mid-City from 3 to 7 p.m. at 3700 Orleans Ave.; Fridays at Bucktown Harbor 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 325 Metairie-Hammond Highway (beginning January 4); Saturdays Downtown 8 a.m. to noon at 750 Carondelet St.; Saturdays Rivertown 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Salle’s Landing in Kenner.  Market Umbrella is the nonprofit parent organization for the CCFM, the first farmers market in the Deep South to overcome the food stamp digital divide back in 2005.  For more information, visit crescentcityfarmersmarket.orgor call (504) 861-4488.

Facebook: Crescent City Farmers Market / Twitter: @ccfmtweets / Instagram: @crescentcityfarmersmkt