The Capital Market (TCM) is packing up fresh fruits, vegetables, and vibes and hitting the road for our 2023 Turnip Tour which is a rotating series of farmers markets throughout Prince George’s County connecting cultural heritage, food system advocacy, and emerging business development to address the lack of healthy food access in marginalized neighborhoods. 

The Turnip Tour was created as a mechanism to address three challenges in Healthy Food Priority Areas – a  lack of healthy food retail outlets, an abundance of vacant or underutilized properties, and a high-demand for The Capital Market to host farmers markets in multiple neighborhoods. A partnership with your organization to host The Turnip Tour, will help to address issues of food insecurity, transform dormant spaces into community assets, and encourage economic growth and activity. 

Specifically, there are five goals of the Turnip Tour:

1. Create unique food-related and culturally meaningful experiences for residents in Healthy Food Priority Areas
2. Connect local farmers and emerging businesses, based in Prince George’s County, with local customers
3. Increase access to local, healthy food for families using food assistance programs including SNAP/WIC, by reducing the food miles traveled and increasing assistance benefits for a dollar-for-dollar matching program
4. Assess the community and environmental landscape for people to safely access food in Healthy Food Priority neighborhoods
5. Establish recommendations for an ongoing process to recognize agricultural, artisan, and craft businesses at farmers markets in Prince George’s County

With a sponsorship from Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), The Capital Market has identified five stops along the Central Avenue – Blue Line Corridor for the 2023 Turnip Tour. Each stop focuses on a different aspect of sustainable and equitable community development, and are undergirded with principles of promoting small and emerging local businesses and supporting farmers of color, as these groups have been disenfranchised or displaced during different iterations of community development projects.