Community Health Initiatives

Old North may be the home of Crown Candy Kitchen, but the neighborhood also offers opportunities to get good, healthy, and locally grown produce. From June through October, ONSLRG hosts the North City Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings, and since of July of 2010, neighborhood residents have been able to do their regular shopping at a neighborhood grocery co-op.

North City Farmers’ Market - ranked in the Top 20 of "America's Favorite Farmers' Markets"
Thanks to the generosity of the Missouri Foundation for Health, ONSLRG launched the North City Farmers’ Market in June of 2007 to bring healthy, affordable produce and other fresh foods to residents of Old North St. Louis and surrounding neighborhoods.  From June through mid-October, the market takes place every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. until noon along the 2700 block of North 14th Street, just south of St. Louis Avenue.

With a passion for delivering quality vegetables, fruits, baked goods, hot food, crafts, flowers and much more to the residents of Old North St. Louis and surrounding neighborhoods, the North City Farmers’ Market also offers free health screenings (by Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers), and healthy cooking demonstrations, while serving as a friendly weekly gathering place for residents and visitors alike.

Other features of the North City Farmers’ Market include entertainment, food samples, healthy meal recipes, children’s activities. Customers can pay for their purchases with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, debit cards, cash and market vouchers (which are distributed through local food pantries).

Anyone interested in selling goods at the market can email info@onsl.org or call the ONSLRG office at 314-241-5031.

The sixth season of the North City Farmers’ Market will open in June 2012.  For the latest news about the market's events and activities, visit the North City Farmers' Market blog.

Old North Grocery Co-op
On July 17, 2010, ONSLRG celebrated the grand opening of the Old North Grocery Co-op at 2718 N. 13th Street.  For many months, a planning committee convened by ONSLRG had met and strategized whith the goal of opening a neighborhood grocery co-op so that residents would be able purchase healthy and affordable foods and other grocery items on a year-round basis. With support from community building fellows and staff from different programs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of Missouri Extension, we had researched successful models from throughout the country for an Old North-based grocery co-op.  After an intensive many months of work on the building itself (thanks to thousands of hours of contributed labor from residents, outside friends, student groups, and electricians affiliated with Kaemmerlen Electric and IBEW Local 1) and funding support from the Missouri Foundation for Health and the Greater St. Louis Regional Empwerment Zone, the store is now open for business and serving customers from within Old North and surrounding neighborhoods, as well as other customers from throughout the St. Louis area.   Use of the building has been granted to ONSLRG for the co-op by Ken Kranzberg, who bought the building in 2007 to keep it out of the hands of speculators who were buying up and sitting on property throughout the neighborhood.

For the latest news and information about products or events at the co-op, visit the co-op website at www.OldNorthGrocery.com.  If you’d like to help us with this new initiative, contact Old North Grocery Co-op's manager, Sarah Kate Buckles, at 314-260-9276 or by email at manager@oldnorthgrocery.com.