Photo:

The weekly Belmont Farmers Market turns 21 this year as the yearly community event brings nearly 50 vendors to the Claflin Street Parking Lot from the first week in June to the final week in October.

Opening day will take place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, behind Leonard Street in Belmont Center. The market is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. through September and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in October.

Patrons will again come for a familiar array of veggies and fruit, baked goods, meat and fish, beer and wine, and other sundries, said Market Chair Hal Shubin.

Yet the market is not just a place to find locally sourced goods. It also helps relieve the ever growing level of food insecurity in Belmont. Stubein reported that 720 households representing 1,121 residents are using SNAP benefits, which used to be called food stamps. 

“But we think there are far more people” who are impacted by the lack of nutritious food, said Stubein at the April 27 Select Board meeting setting this year’s market dates.

The farmers market has been pushing actions to solve the issue. For more than two decades, the market has been asking vendors to donate unsold produce and other products to organizations – such as Arlington’s Food Link – that distribute it to agencies in Greater Boston. In 2009 the Farmers Market incorporated as the Belmont Food Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that assists in fundraising and education.

The market also has several direct assistance programs, such as matching federal SNAP benefits, which provides customers an extra $25 a week. The collaborative also provides funding that boosts the state’s HIP assistance program, known in Belmont as HIP Plus. Last year, all the benefit programs helped stretch patrons’ food budgets by more than $71,000, funds obtained from fundraising, grants, sponsorships, and direct donations from patrons and residents.

“We do [all] that because we believe that it’s important that everyone have enough healthy food to eat,” said Stubin.