Only on Tuesdays: Find the Rosa Parks Farmers Market

Today is your one chance this week to visit the Rosa Parks Farmers Market. Open only on Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. now through September, the market can be found at 2845 Beatties Ford Road in the parking lot of the Mecklenburg County Health Department’s Northwest Campus location.

The market, just in its second year, features local vendors from North Carolina and South Carolina.

Included in this week’s lineup of goodness:

Bibb & mixed lettuce, kale (heart be still), mint, nectarines, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, watermelon, freshly baked bread, pimento cheese, breakfast bars and the list goes on.

There will be a kids zone at the market, as well as a cooking demo at noon (so stop by on your lunch break).

Why the name “Rosa Parks?”

Reggie Singleton with the Mecklenburg County Health Department told the Observer that Rosa Parks was an advocate for a vegetarian-centric diet. Fittingly, the Mecklenburg County Health Department and Johnson C. Smith University sponsored the creation of the market near the street Rosa Parks Place last year in part to emphasize health and the offering of affordable, nutritious foods in west Charlotte.

Health Department Information Coordinator Clint Grant said in the 2016 promotional video:  “Our main goal is to increase food access to healthy, organic foods that are wholesome, nutritious and are good for the entire family.”

The market was named with the approval of Parks’ niece, Sheila McCauley Keys, who actually traveled to Charlotte for the 2016 grand opening.

Vendors will accept cash, debit cards and EBT/SNAP cards, with an EBT “Double-Up Bucks” program offering a dollar-for-dollar match with food stamp benefit purchases up to $20.

Now hop in your car and go freshen up your Tuesday.

Get there

Rosa Parks Farmers Market: 2845 Beatties Ford Road

Tuesdays, 10 a.m-2 p.m. June-September

Photo: John D. Simmons/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Only on Tuesdays: Find the Rosa Parks Farmers Market."