OUR HISTORY
Forsyth Farmers’ Market (FFM) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2009 by six women who came together with the intention of materializing a shared common vision: a local food system that is good for the health of all people and the environment.
The women merged with the existing Starland market and sought permission from the city to allow a farmers’ market in historic Forsyth Park. The first market was on May 9th, 2009. FFM’s main goal was to provide all members of Savannah’s community a welcoming, inclusive place to purchase local food and address food access issues. Despite some logistical challenges, Forsyth Park was chosen as the main market space because it’s beauty and central access. When it was time to recruit vendors, FFM’s founders FFM has maintained an important focus on food access issues and is a producer-only market (meaning all vendors have to be producing at least 75% of the products they sell) and allows only food and plant vendors. One of FFM’s most efficient ways of addressing food access issues was by introducing a token system that allow shoppers to use SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps) to purchase Market items.
FFM was one of the first independent farmers’ markets in the nation to institute this system. By partnering with Wholesome Wave Georgia to double SNAP purchases and conducting outreach to community members who utilize SNAP, FFM has had the second highest SNAP sales at a farmers’ market in the state year after year!
Despite the Market’s success, visionaries realized a 4-hour market only held on Saturday mornings and in a location with inconsistent parking and limited public transportation wasn’t always ideal for those experiencing food access and mobility issues. A farmers’ market on wheels was established!
In 2013, FFM was awarded a grant from Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to retrofit a truck and launch the Farm Truck 912 program - a mobile market that provides food access for Savannah’s neighborhoods. In 2015, FFM received funding from the USDA to add additional truck stops and cover incentives for the SNAP/EBT programming. At the end of 2018, the CDC REACH grant, which was awarded to the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah, provided funding to do another expansion. This resource brought Farm Truck 912 to 14 stops per week.
Learn more about the Farm Truck 912 program
In combination with the truck, nutrition programing is offered through nutrition educators who teach cooking classes, prepare food samples, conduct cooking demonstrations, create recipe cards, and further engage the community with nutrition education. Currently, Forsyth Farmers’ Market partners with the non-profit organization Oldways to bring the community-focused six-week “A Taste of African Heritage” interactive cooking classes to Savannah.
In 2019, FFM was one of only eight recipients to receive GusNIP (Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program) funding from the USDA to implement a ‘produce prescription program’ in early 2020. The $455,000 grant allows the Market to partner with Memorial Health Children’s Hospital, Chatham County Health Department, St. Joseph’s/Candler’s St. Mary’s Health Center, and J.C. Lewis Primary Health Care Center for FFM’s 912 Food Farmacy program. 912 Food Farmacy serves low-income individuals who have, or are at risk for, diet-related chronic diseases and provides them with nutrition education, increased access to fresh and local foods, and financial incentives for purchasing healthy food items.
