Access to fresh, affordable produce is rooted in the 118-year history of Pike Place Market and it remains essential to the health and stability of the Market community.
PRODUCE FOR THE PEOPLE
It all started in 1907 when the price of onions soared in Seattle.
At this time, commission houses on Western Avenue sold and distributed produce for local farmers. But, their price gouging scheme outraged farmers, shoppers and the city government.
That’s when the City Council declared Pike Street and Pike Place to be Seattle’s public market: creating a place for farmers to sell direct to customers to keep produce affordable and accessible.
118 years later, the Market Foundation continues to support this mission with programs that ensure everyone in our community can access the wonderful food of the Market, regardless of income.
We work closely with our partners in Pike Place Market to ensure everyone can afford the fresh and nutritious fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and eggs from Market vendors; receive groceries from the Food Bank or a warm, scratch made meal from the Senior Center.
Yet, the cost of food and the demand for food support across all social service programs in the Market has skyrocketed, meanwhile, elevated food access funding from COVID-era programs is gone.
Here at the Pike Place Market Foundation we are committed to meeting the needs in the Market and downtown community and are doubling our investment in fresh, nutritious food in the Market this year. Here’s a few ways our increased support for food access shows up in Pike Place Market:
- We doubled funding for Protein Bucks in the Market, allowing shoppers who receive SNAP funds to afford fresh fish, meat and eggs in Pike Place Market.
- We distributed an emergency grant to our partners at Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank to purchase food for meal services and grocery distribution for Market and downtown neighbors when it became evident that the need had outpaced current resources.
- Year-round our team at The Market Commons invests in local farmers while supporting shoppers with lower incomes by operating food purchasing programs in Pike Place Market
Take a closer look at our partnership with the Pike Market Senior Center & Food Bank:
We are grateful to our partners like Delta Air Lines and tms who help make this work possible!
Food has always brought us together at Pike Place Market and we know when everyone has access to fresh, healthy food at Pike Place Market they can truly thrive.