Womens’ History Month: Highlighting Food Systems Leaders | March 20, 2023

Fresh & Local:

Womens’ History Month: Highlighting Food Systems Leaders

This Womens’ History Month, we’re highlighting women leaders on the Market Umbrella team who are working, through our mission, to cultivate the power of farmers markets to drive economic and community health in the region. Elisa Muñoz serves as President of Market Umbrella’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are responsible for guiding the mission, vision, and future of Market Umbrella.

Elisa is the Executive Director of New Orleans Food Policy Action Council (FPAC). Elisa served as Market Manager for Crescent City Farmers Market from 2011-2015 and has stayed involved with the Market ever since through policy work and shopping for her family. Elisa's life work is ensuring a just and equitable food system for all and she currently does that through policy and systems work. In her free time, Elisa enjoys baking with and for her young son and husband and being crafty.

Picks of the Week:

Market Mommas Club Meetup

On Thursday, March 23, we’re hosting a Market Mommas Club meetup! Stop by our Thursday Mid-City market from 4pm to 6pm. Valerie McMillan, owner of The Ohm Well, offers a chance to relax and rewind with Mommy & Me Yoga out on the beautiful Greenway. Stick around and enjoy Chef Nini’s cooking demonstration, in partnership with VEGGI. We’ll also have special giveaways for Market Mommas!

Thanks to the generous support of LA HealthCare Connections, Market Mommas Club connects breastfeeding moms with breastfeeding support groups and offers $60 in incentives for up to 6 months to spend at the market! Enrollment for Market Mommas Club is still open. To join the club, you must be eligible for Medicaid and/or WIC; pregnant and planning to or already breastfeeding babies up to six months old; and attend one breastfeeding support group per month with our program partners. If you are a new mom or a previous MMC participant that is newly pregnant or breastfeeding, please complete the 2023 Registration Form. See you at market!

Daylight Saving Returns

Last week, the hours of the Thursday Mid-City market returned to 3 pm to 7 pm. Now that Daylight Saving has returned and our days feel a little longer and brighter, we get to spend an additional hour at market with our friends and favorite vendors. Please remind your fellow friends of the CCFM that our Thursday market hours have changed!

Volunteer at Wednesday at the Square!

Market Umbrella will be at Wednesday at the Square this week on March 22nd. We need volunteers to assist with outreach at this event! Help us spread the word about when and where our CCFM markets are, as well as the important work we do to improve nutrition and food access in the community. We have shifts available from 3pm to 5:30pm and 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Click here to sign-up for a volunteer shift.

Market Umbrella is a small team and volunteers truly make a difference in our work. If you can’t join us Wednesday, please share this message with a friend who loves the markets!

2023 Moonlight Market:
Ticket Sales Now Live!

On April 20th from 6pm to 9pm, Market Umbrella will host our first fundraising event since the pandemic: Moonlight Market! You can now buy tickets online for this spectacular event, which features farm-to-table fare from New Orleans’ finest restaurant and pop-up chefs, as well as live music, craft beverages, and a silent auction. Spend the evening with us and connect with local food producers, businesses, and community partners that make our markets and food access work possible. For more details and to buy tickets, visit our website.

Vendor of the Week:

River Queen Greens

River Queen Greens is back at the Thursday market! Come on by our Mid-City market and shop with Cheryl Nunes and Annie Moore, the farmers behind River Queen Greens! Starting in 2017, River Queen Greens began providing New Orleans with Certified Naturally Grown seasonal produce and microgreens from their 1/2 acre market garden in the Bywater. Since then, they have moved to a new growing site in Lower Coast Algiers on New Orleans' West Bank. Ten miles downriver from downtown New Orleans and across the street from the Mississippi River levee, their expanded location juxtaposes small-scale agriculture with global industry. In addition to their weekly set up at our market, they offer a choice-based farm-share veggie box that you can pick up from Press Street Gardens in the Bywater/Marigny on Tuesday evenings! Just like at the market, SNAP and Market Match are accepted! Find River Queen Greens’ table of fresh veggies every week at our Thursday market!

Recipe of the Week:

Daikon Radish Salad

Daikon radishes are milder in flavor compared to the more common pink varieties but still have a crisp texture. In fact, their flavor tends to vary throughout the vegetable. The bottom is usually more poignant, and the top tends to be sweeter. Taking after its main ingredient, this daikon radish salad recipe (adapted from Platings and Pairings) has many different marvelous flavors in one dish. You’ll want to pair it with everything!

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!