Jackson Free Press

Farmer's Market Opens
A former grocery store near the Jackson Medical Mall reopened Saturday as a farmer's market. Part of the Roadmap to Health Equity Project, the market is located in the former New Deal grocery store on Livingston Road. Beneta Burt, project director, said that grant funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation allows the farmers market to offer fresh produce from a cooperative of local farmers at discounted prices.

The market currently accepts WIC food vouchers and will begin accepting EBT food stamps next month, but it is intended to be a service for the entire community, Burt says.

"In addition to wanting fresh fruits and vegetables to be accessible to the community, they also have to be affordable," Burt says.

Located at 2548 Livingston Road, the Jackson Roadmap Farmers Market is open Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call 601-987-6783 for more information.

As part of its health education initiative in Jackson Public Schools, the Roadmap is also enlisting 10 local high school students to operate a stall at the market this summer. The students will learn basic business skills on market days and help with the Roadmap's recycling program on other days.

Fondren Market in the Works
A new arts market is also in the works for the Fondren neighborhood. Restaurateur Jim Burwell, who owns and operates Mimi's Family & Friends with his wife, Mimi, is working with the Fondren Renaissance Foundation and developer Mike Peters to establish a monthly outdoor market in the parking lot across North State Street from his restaurant. Burwell envisions a neighborhood flea market, with live music and vendors selling artwork, handicrafts and food. The food vendors would only sell goods, like pickles or jams, that would not compete with area restaurants, Burwell said. Call Burwell at 601-366-6111 for more information.

International Film Festival Slated for Fall
Local filmmaker and owner of WLEZ FM Edward Saint Pe is planning a fall film festival for the Halloween weekend. Dubbed the Mississippi International Film Festival, the event will take place October 28-30 in downtown Jackson, Saint Pe says. Saint Pe is still developing details of the event, but he is planning a Saturday concert to accompany the films.

Saint Pe is soliciting submissions for a wide variety of categories—narrative and documentary, short and feature-length—on withoutabox.com, an online portal for film festival announcements and submissions.

"I would like to have an international feel to it," Saint Pe says. The festival has already received its first submission, from Kyoto, Japan.

For more information, visit the festival's website at msfilm.org.

Previous Comments

ID

157611

Comment

more jackson positives! congrats to all!

Author

2599

Date

2010-05-04T13:50:06-06:00