REC Mobile Farmers Market - Family Health Center of Worcester

REC Mobile Farmers Market at the Family Health Center of Worcester is part of the Regional Environmental Council, a nonprofit food justice organization with a 53-year history of environmental sustainability and social justice work in Worcester. This Thursday stop at 26 Queen Street is one piece of REC’s larger network of community and mobile farmers markets across the city, alongside programs such as community gardens and YouthGROW. The result is a market shaped not just around farm sales, but around getting fresh, local food into neighborhood settings where people already gather for daily services.

Why it matters locally

REC runs this market as part of a Worcester-based set of programs that links mobile farmers markets, community and school gardens, and Youth Growing Organics in Worcester, its youth employment and urban agriculture program for Worcester teens. That local frame matters here because the market is not a one-off pop-up; it is one stop in a citywide mobile schedule that also reaches the Worcester Senior Center, Lincoln Village/Victoria Center, and Great Brook Valley on Thursdays.

The vendor mix also reflects REC’s stated effort to create opportunities for small and medium-size farms, small urban growers, and BIPOC growers, while helping vendors manage Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons and SNAP/HIP transactions. Several farms bring culturally significant crops into that local system, including Misigaro Farms, Nuestro Huerto Urban Farm, Juakumbah Farms, and Global Village Farms.

What you'll find there

The standout here is how strongly the lineup leans toward produce, eggs, bread, honey, and culturally specific crops rather than a generic market spread. Because this is part of REC’s mobile network, the selection also ties together urban growers, youth agriculture, family farms, and a few prepared-baked offerings in one compact stop.

• -Pick up pure maple syrup plus maple cream, maple sugar, and maple candies from Bucket List Maple Syrup.
• -Find seasonal produce and fresh eggs from Cotyledon Farm, which also raises layer chickens.
• -Look for herbs, culturally significant crops, honey, and salves from Global Village Farms.
• -Add sunflower, broccoli, sweet pea, and radish microgreens from Just For Fun Farms.
• -Shop edible gourds, pumpkin leaves, amaranth greens, jilo, mustard greens, and shell beans from Misigaro Farms.
• -Support REC YouthGROW Farm for vegetables grown through greenhouse and outdoor production by its youth development and employment program.
• -Bring home breads and baked goods made from scratch with organic flours from Wooden Bakery.
• -Grab pastries and coffee, including traditional Turkish coffee, from Daphne’s Tears Bakery Cafe.
• -Expect a broad fruit-and-vegetable stand from Harper Farms & Garden, including fresh Mirai corn.
• -Choose raw, treatment-free honey, pasture-raised eggs, beeswax candles, and skincare products from Kelly Homestead Apiary.
• -Seek out bitter gourd, hot peppers, long beans, mustard greens, daikon, cilantro, eggplant, and cucumbers from Nuestro Huerto Urban Farm.
• -Get grass-fed beef, fruits and vegetables, and award-winning ice cream from Rota Spring Farm.
• -Shop diversified fruits and vegetables and heritage breed pork from Coolidge Hill Farm.
• -Find produce grown with non-GMO seeds and Integrated Pest Management practices at Fay Mountain Farm.
• -Stock up on tomatoes, peppers, okra, water spinach, sweet potato leaves, gourds, amaranth greens, malabar spinach, and lalu from Juakumbah Farms.
• -Browse source-identified foods from Marty’s Local.
• -Choose responsibly grown food from Rattle Root Farm.
• -Look for Shiitake, Blue Oyster, Golden Oyster, Pink Oyster, and Lion’s Mane mushrooms from the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA.

REC’s broader 2026 market calendar also includes Friday markets at Beaver Brook Park and Saturday markets at University Park, alongside the Tuesday-through-Thursday mobile schedule. A clear thread at this stop is Worcester’s food access work expressed through specific crops and specific growers. REC describes itself as a nonprofit food justice organization whose programs include mobile farmers markets and YouthGROW, a youth employment and urban agriculture program for Worcester teens. On the table, that mission shows up in produce that goes beyond standard salad staples: Misigaro Farms brings pumpkin leaves, jilo, and amaranth greens; Nuestro Huerto Urban Farm grows bitter gourd, long beans, daikon, and cilantro; Juakumbah Farms adds water spinach, sweet potato leaves, malabar spinach, and lalu. The market’s shape feels closely tied to REC’s encouragement of small urban growers and BIPOC growers, with the mobile format carrying those crops into multiple Worcester neighborhoods.

Know before you go

No dogs are allowed, which is the clearest visit-planning detail to keep in mind before heading to the Family Health Center stop. This location is at 26 Queen Street and operates as part of REC’s Thursday mobile market route, which also includes the Worcester Senior Center, Lincoln Village/Victoria Center, and Great Brook Valley. Restrooms are not available here. Since the market is seasonal, plan around the June 16 to December 17 run rather than expecting a winter schedule.

Payments & SNAP

SNAP/EBT is accepted at this market. REC also provides assistance to vendors on running SNAP/HIP transactions and managing Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons, which helps explain the market’s strong food-access emphasis. Payment methods are otherwise presented clearly for visitors.