REC Mobile Farmers Market - Edward M. Kennedy Community Health

REC Mobile Farmers Market - Edward M. Kennedy Community Health is part of the Regional Environmental Council, a nonprofit food justice organization with a 53-year history of work around environmental sustainability and social justice in Worcester. That mission shows up here in a mobile market format tied to REC’s Community and Mobile Farmers Markets program, bringing fresh, local food into a Worcester health-center setting rather than asking shoppers to travel to a larger destination market. The market runs at 19 Tacoma Street as one stop in REC’s broader Mobile Farmers Markets schedule, connecting this Worcester location to a citywide network of neighborhood-based pickups and pop-ups.

Why it matters locally

REC’s Worcester roots are central to this market. The organization describes itself as a nonprofit food justice group with a 53-year history in Worcester, and its programs include Community and Mobile Farmers Markets, Urban Garden Resources of Worcester, and Youth Growing Organics in Worcester for local teens. That means this stop is tied to a larger local system that links food access, youth employment, and urban agriculture in the city.

The vendor mix also reflects REC’s stated effort to create opportunities for small and medium-size farms, small urban growers, and BIPOC growers serving a diverse array of customers. At this market, that local emphasis is visible in Worcester-connected growers such as REC YouthGROW Farm, a youth development and employment program, and in farms raising culturally significant crops including bitter gourd, long beans, pumpkin leaves, jilo, and water spinach.

What you'll find there

The strongest throughline here is produce with range: standard seasonal fruits and vegetables share space with microgreens, mushrooms, eggs, honey, maple products, bread, pastries, and several farms focused on culturally significant crops. It reads like a compact mobile market built around both everyday staples and ingredients that match Worcester’s many food traditions.

• -Browse Bucket List Maple Syrup for pure maple syrup, maple cream, maple sugar, and maple candies.
• -Pick up nutrient-dense produce and fresh eggs from Cotyledon Farm.
• -Find herbs, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, honey, salves, and other culturally significant crops from Global Village Farms.
• -Add sunflower, broccoli, sweet pea, and radish microgreens from Just For Fun Farms.
• -Look for edible gourds, pumpkin leaves, amaranth greens, jilo, mustard greens, and shell beans at Misigaro Farms.
• -Shop vegetables grown through greenhouse and outdoor production by REC YouthGROW Farm.
• -Take home breads and baked goods made from scratch with organic flours from Wooden Bakery.
• -Order pastries and traditional Turkish coffee from Daphne’s Tears Bakery Cafe.
• -Choose from more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, including fresh Mirai corn, at Harper Farms & Garden.
• -Get raw, treatment-free honey, pasture-raised eggs, and handcrafted goods from Kelly Homestead Apiary.
• -Seek out bitter gourd, hot peppers, long beans, mustard greens, daikon, cilantro, eggplant, and cucumbers at Nuestro Huerto Urban Farm.
• -Buy grass-fed beef, fruits, vegetables, and ice cream from Rota Spring Farm.
• -Check Coolidge Hill Farm for diversified fruits and vegetables grown with Integrated Pest Management practices.
• -Find fresh produce from Fay Mountain Farm, grown with non-GMO seeds and Integrated Pest Management practices.
• -Stock up on tomatoes, peppers, okra, water spinach, sweet potato leaves, gourds, amaranth greens, malabar spinach, and lalu from Juakumbah Farm.
• -Source identified foods come through Marty’s Local, a locally owned and operated food distributor.
• -Rattle Root Farm brings fresh food grown with a focus on sustainable farming practices.
• -Try Shiitake, Blue Oyster, Golden Oyster, Pink Oyster, and Lion’s Mane mushrooms from the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA.

REC’s Mobile Farmers Markets run from June 16 to December 17, 2026, while the organization also operates separate Summer-FALL Farmers Markets and a University Park market on other weekly schedules.

This market’s most distinctive thread is how many vendors center crops and foods that reflect specific cultural cooking traditions. Misigaro Farms grows edible gourds, pumpkin leaves, amaranth greens, jilo, mustard greens, and shell beans. Nuestro Huerto Urban Farm brings bitter gourd, long beans, daikon, cilantro, and hot peppers. Juakumbah Farm adds water spinach, sweet potato leaves, malabar spinach, lalu, okra, and gourds. Even beyond produce, the lineup keeps widening the frame: Daphne’s Tears Bakery Cafe serves traditional Turkish coffee, and the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA grows Shiitake, oyster varieties, and Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Taken together, the mobile market feels less like a pared-down produce stop and more like a compact buying point for ingredients that match the city’s everyday home kitchens.

Know before you go

No dogs are allowed at the market. This stop is at 19 Tacoma Street, and it operates as part of REC’s Mobile Farmers Markets schedule rather than as a standalone weekly square or park market. The listed schedule shows short morning service windows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so timing matters more here than it would at a long-duration market. Restrooms are not available on site. If you are comparing REC locations, this Edward M. Kennedy Community Health stop is one of several neighborhood-based mobile sites REC runs across Worcester, alongside places such as Elm Park Towers, Family Health Center of Worcester, Worcester Senior Center, and Great Brook Valley.

Payments & SNAP

SNAP/EBT is accepted at this market. REC also states that its markets assist vendors with running SNAP/HIP transactions and managing Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons, which fits the organization’s broader food-access focus across its Worcester market network. Payment methods are clearly indicated for visitors, making this a practical stop for shoppers planning to use benefits.