about marketumbrella.org

marketumbrella.org is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3). The Crescent City Farmers Market, the central pole of marketumbrella.org, brings vendors and shoppers together to preserve local culture, generate wealth and support the local economy. Learning, sharing and growing, we cultivate the field of public markets for public good. We were first drawn to the simple, traditional, and enjoyable world of public markets because in these ancient mechanisms we saw seeds for a brighter, greener future.

Reinventing a Tradition

In 1995, we established the Crescent City Farmers Market on the mural-adorned William B. Reily parking lot in the once-empty and Warehouse District of downtown New Orleans. The brainchild of civic leaders John Abajian and Sharon Litwin and the current executive director, Richard McCarthy, the market soon became a popular – and profitable – Saturday venue and a community of mutual support. Many friends and partners joined us to experiment, learn, and replicate our model many times over. In 1999, we added seafood to our offerings. The next year, we opened a Tuesday Farmers Market in the parking lot of Uptown Square (now Tulane Square); Markets in Mid City (Thursday) and the French Quarter (Wednesday) followed.

Designing the marketumbrella.org

It soon became clear that CCFM was more than a Market. Historically, it was organized under an entity called the Economics Institute at Loyola University; in 2005, we rebranded ourselves as marketumbrella.org to reflect better our accomplishments and aspirations and in 2008 we graduated and became an independent organization. Components include, in addition to the Crescent City Farmers Market (now operating Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with an economic impact of $8.9 million):


Re envisioning Local and National Models

In 12 years, the Crescent City Farmers Market has become a leader in developing national funding strategies for public markets and building capacity for Farmers Markets via the Farmers Market Coalition (of which our Executive Director Richard McCarthy is founding Vice-President). In New Orleans, one year after the largest natural/engineering disaster in U.S. history, our work and our lives have obviously been greatly affected. We went from four year-round Farmers Markets to two. Many of our farmers and our shoppers were dislocated; farmers and fishers posted serious losses. Now, the environment is simultaneously trying and promising. Our influence has grown – new partners are reaching out like never before, enabling us to serve as a re granting agency with thousands of dollars to support farmers and market initiatives throughout the region. Similarly, the global attention has helped us to expand our reach far beyond our bioregion. We remain committed to practice, innovation and sharing – and eating well, thanks to our friends at “the happiest place in New Orleans.”

People

Board of Directors
Staff

Report to the communinity

View our 2009 report to the community

Financials

marketumbrella.org 2009 budget

Organizational management, structure, governance and history

Print a PDF copy of a our organizational history