Local Farmers Markets in New Orleans
Uptown
Mid-City
Thursdays
December 5, 2024
3 pm - 6 pm
Lafitte Greenway Plaza
500 N. Norman C. Francis Parkway at the Bayou
City Park
Sundays
Welcome to the Crescent City Farmers Market!
CCFM began in New Orleans in 1995 as a producer-only farmers market connecting customers directly with farmers, fishermen, ranchers, dairies, bakers and food makers from within 200 miles, and now we’re operating three weekly markets in the New Orleans area. Currently, we have markets operating Tuesdays Uptown at Uptown Square, Thursdays in Mid-City at Lafitte Greenway Plaza, and Sundays in City Park at Tad Gormley Stadium. You’ll find a wonderful array of locally grown produce, fresh bread and baked goods, cut flowers, wild-caught Louisiana seafood, fresh dairy, pasture-raised meat, handcrafted meals, and much more. The Crescent City Farmers Market is building a stronger community by promoting good health, social exchange, and fair trade for our family of producers and consumers!
Want a little more info about shopping at our markets? Check out our market calendar to see what’s happening at CCFM this month.
Purchase Options
At the Crescent City Farmers Market, we want to make our vendors’ products accessible to as many people as possible, so we offer a variety of purchase options.
Cash
Vendors and market staff happily accept cash. Smaller bills are preferred.
Market Tokens
No cash? No problem! We have our own local currency - wooden market tokens in $5 and $1 units - which are accepted at all of our vendors’ stalls and are good forever! Visit our Welcome Tent to purchase tokens.
Credit/Debit Card
Stop by the Welcome Tent and turn your plastic (we accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover) into wood by purchasing Crescent tokens, our local currency. Tokens can be used at all of our vendors’ stalls at all of our markets, and they never expire! Note: There is a $2 administrative fee for credit and debit cardholders to help us offset the cost of managing the currency.
Apple Pay
We are able to accept Apple Pay, which works similarly to using a credit or debit card. Stop by the Welcome Tent and use your phone to buy tokens. A $2 administrative fee applies to Apple Pay purchases.
Personal Checks
We can turn your paper money into wooden tokens too. Please make all checks payable to Market Umbrella and add a $2 processing fee to your total.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT/SNAP/Food Stamps):
We accept EBT card funds. Stop by the Welcome Tent to use your EBT card to obtain EBT tokens. These work much as our Crescent tokens do, with a few exceptions due to government regulations: change is only given in EBT tokens, and the following products/services cannot be purchased with EBT tokens: ready-to-eat food, cut flowers, inedible plants, and alcohol. All of our vendors (unless offering the goods and services previously mentioned) accept these tokens, and they never expire! So bring your Louisiana Purchase Card or other state EBT card and exchange your benefits for tokens.
Shoppers using SNAP/EBT can also shop with our Market Match tokens.
Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP):
FMNP is a USDA program that distributes vouchers for eligible seniors (S/FMNP) and WIC recipients (WIC/FMNP). Look for the yellow FMNP sign at vendors' tables to use your vouchers with them.
** Notice to Crescent City Farmers Market shoppers **
Discontinuation of pre-2008 market tokens
Due to the growth of our token system, and at the recommendation of our accounting firm, we are decommissioning all market tokens designed prior to 2008. If your tokens do not look similar to the images below, they have expired.
Valid Debit/Credit Tokens (Green $5 & Orange $1 tokens):
Valid EBT Tokens (Purple $5 & Blue $1 tokens):
Valid Market Match Tokens (Black $5 & Red $1 tokens):
In 2004, Market Umbrella developed a wooden token currency system in response to the increased usage of electronic forms of payments. Tokens, which could be purchased with credit/debit and food stamp cards and spent with any Crescent City Farmers Market vendor, were minted and went into circulation. A few years and several designs later, four (4) new tokens were produced in 2008: purple $5 EBT, blue $1 EBT, and multi-color $5 and $1 credit/debit tokens featuring the image of one of our local food heroes or heroines. We also created black $5 and red $1 tokens for our Market Match SNAP incentive program.
The 2016 $10 token is graced by CCFM founder Sharon Litwin; the 2015 token features local civic leader and philanthropist Boatner Reily who donated the space for the original CCFM location in 1995; the 2014 token is graced by community leader and market supporter Diana Pinckley; the 2013 token honors late CCFM farmer Jim Core; the 2012 token features Cajun cook and author Eula Mae Doré; the 2010–2011 token pays homage to late culinary education visionary Lee Barnes; the 2009 token honors Mississippi farmer and founding CCFM vendor James "Billy Corn" Burkett; and the 2008 token pays homage to late Commander's Palace Chef Jamie Shannon.
About Us
Market Umbrella is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3), based in New Orleans, whose mission is to cultivate the power of farmers markets to drive economic and community health in the region. Market Umbrella has operated the Crescent City Farmers Markets (CCFM) since 1995.
The Crescent City Farmers Market operates weekly year-round throughout New Orleans. The CCFM hosts 70+ local small farmers, fishers, and food producers, and more than 150,000 shoppers annually.