Photo: Patrons can find Mirela at the Belmont Farmers’ Market from the first week of June to the last week in October

It’s a not-so-hot summer Thursday as Mirela strolls the Claflin Street parking lot in Belmont Center, where the Belmont Farmers Market is located and where she’s one of the Market’s two managers.

From a small town near Barcelona, Mirela has been giving her time to the Market – one part of the Belmont Food Collabrative – for nearly a decade with its mission to make healthy food part of everyone’s home, said Mirela.

“[The Belmont Farmers Market] is an important part of the community, and I feel wonderful working here,” she said.

Volunteers like Mirela and her staff provide the structure that allows the Market to offer local produce, meat and fish, baked goods, prepared meals, breads, and freshly made goods to more than 800 patrons each week.

Starting in the first week of June and ending the last week of October, Mirela sets up and takes down the stalls and tents used by the Market, makes sure the nearly two dozen vendors are happy and hydrated (with water provided by the Market), and answers a litany of questions from patrons. Mirela also works to find new vendors by visiting other farmers’ markets during the year. 

The Market also provides food assistance to shoppers, including doubling SNAP benefits up to $25 per week and participating in the state’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which offers coupons to WIC families and eligible seniors. In 2023, these programs added more than $59,000 to shoppers’ budgets.

Last year, the Market started its free POP Club, targeting the youngest patrons. Each week, nearly 70 kids between 5 and 12 years old are provided $3 in POP Bucks, which can be used to purchase fruit and vegetables—”No cookies!” said Mirela—to make their own healthy food choices and learn where their food comes from while making the Market a fun experience.

And this week the market is asking POP participants how the program is doing with a POP Club Survey