Mystic Market Block Party

At a meeting two years ago, staff from Shape Up Somerville asked Clivia Castillo — a bilingual high school student in the Welcome Project’s youth interpreter program — her opinion on how to make it easier for immigrant families from the Mystic to shop at the Somerville Farmers Markets in Union Square and Davis Square.

She responded by recalling that in her home country of Portugal, merchants wheeled carts with affordable vegetables and fruits into the neighborhoods. “Why don’t you do the same thing here — bring the market to the Mystic,” she said.

Shape Up Somerville took Clivia’s suggestion — and suggestions from other residents — to heart. In partnership with The Welcome Project, Enterprise Farm, the Somerville Housing Authority and Groundwork Somerville, the Mystic Mobile Market opened this June. Now, Mystic residents have access to healthy vegetables which they purchase from a refurbished Enterprise Farm bus that parks at the Mystic every Saturday from 11 to 3. The vegetables are affordable, and the market accepts SNAP, WIC, and and EBT.

Join the Mystic Market Block Party this Saturday from 11 to 3 on the lawn in front of the Mystic Activity Center (530 Mystic Ave) as we celebrate the Mystic and the market with cooking demos, games, music and delicious food.