NEW CASTLE, Del., - New Castle County Executive Thomas P. Gordon held a Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Route 9 Farmers Market on Thursday, June 11, 2015 at Garfield Park located at 26 Karlyn Drive in New Castle.
The ribbon cutting ceremony followed a soft opening of the newest Farmers Market for New Castle County Government, said Jane Rattenni, an administrator in the Department of Community Services.
The program began at 3 p.m. with a Farmers Market Story Time presentation. The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony took place at 5 o’clock followed by live music from the First State Symphonic Band. The Farmers Market will be open from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. each Thursday this summer and into mid-autumn.
The Route 9 Farmers Market is the newest of four markets operated by the County’s Department of Community Services.
“I am proud to have Garfield Park officially join the established Farmers Markets at Rockwood, Carousel, and Glasgow parks,” County Executive Gordon said. “This gives us four markets that are distributed evenly in order to give the residents of New Castle County a chance to buy local produce and other goods.”
The Executive said the new Farmers Market would deal with the locale's designation as a food desert by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for having extremely low access to healthy foods, fruits and vegetables. In addition, it would complement the ongoing initiative by the County to revitalize the Route 9 Corridor with plans to construct an Innovation Center/Library and its ongoing Neighborhood Stabilization Program efforts to renovate blighted homes into desirable real estate.
With the opening of the Farmers Market site at Garfield Park, New Castle County will provide the communities along the recently established Route 9 Innovation District with expanded access to fresh produce and healthy food choices, Community Services General Manager Sophia Hanson said. Using approximately $100,000 in grant funding from the USDA, the County is proactively promoting its four Farmers Market sites, with specific focus on creating and promoting the new Route 9 Market.
Local farmers and producers interested in more information about New Castle County Farmers Markets and how to become a vendor should contact Michael Begatto at 302-395-5624 or [email protected] or go to New Castle County’s website at nccde.org/farmersmarkets.
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