Jacksonville Public Market Will Be an Oasis in Food Desert

Connecting Food, Culture, People and Neighborhoods

Jacksonville community celebrates the announcement of the long awaited food market.

Like many urban core neighborhoods across the nation, Jacksonville's Eastside is considered a food desert, with little access to nutritious, fresh, whole foods, with full service grocery stores located miles away. A long-awaited Jacksonville Public Market was recently announced for this fall. It will bring improved nutrition and healthy foods to Jacksonville's Historic Eastside.

The Market will also provide a venue for a wide range of family and nutritional programs, youth entrepreneurial activities and events highlighting the neighborhood's history. In addition, it will also promote the area's culture to Jacksonville residents and visitors to the city's adjacent Sports & Entertainment District, located on the A. Philip Randolph Boulevard corridor.

Starting September 10, the inaugural year's markets will take place the day before NFL Jacksonville Jaguars regular season home football games: Saturdays, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on September 10 and 24; October 22; November 12; and December 3 and 10; and, Friday, December 23, from 6 - 10 p.m.

The Public Market is a tremendous step to provide access to fresh, healthy food and essential services, but also in closing the gap in health and economic disparities with the large footprint of positivity and prosperity for the Historic Eastside. HUD team representatives at the event included Field Office Director Alesia Scott-Ford, and Matthew Stewart.

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