After Market Program Serves Up Excess Food

After Market Program Serves Up Excess Food The Kathleen L. Peck After Market Program at the Lancaster Central Market in Pennsylvania helps find homes for excess produce and baked goods from the farmers market. “After Market grew out of a very simple realization: at the end of each market day, many of our standholders still had an abundance of fresh, nutritious food—food that hadn’t sold, but was still perfectly good,” says Assistant Director of the Central Market Trust Jason Traverse. “We knew there were families in our community struggling to access fresh produce and healthy meals. By connecting unsold, perfectly good, nutritious food from our vendors directly to the community, After Market turns potential waste into nourishment and reinforces the Market’s role as a community resource, not just a shopping destination.” In this way, After Market creates a direct channel for vendors to improve food access across Lancaster and to unite around a shared sense of purpose. “There was a time at the end of 2024 when After Market grew too large to be sustainable,” says Traverse. “We closed down for a few weeks to reassess how best to conduct the program.” This involved tweaking the entire process and recruiting new volunteers. “Volunteers now bag items for each guest. They infused some organization and dignity into the process, and we’ve seen the program grow exponentially ever since its relaunch in February 2025.” Today, the program operates with a refrigerator donated by the family of the late Kathleen L. Peck. “We revitalized the program in her honor,” says Traverse. “Peck loved the Market and Lancaster. Before our revamp, a busy After Market might see a dozen folks. Now we’re seeing as many as 60, lots of families with children. Her family is thrilled to see how amazingly this program has grown, both in size and benefit to the community.” Approximately 10 vendors donate to each After Market session, offering a variety of produce, baked goods, soups, pretzels and a full fridge. All donations are weighed and recorded before distribution. Participation is free, and participants sign up by sliding a signed sheet of paper into a box. Around 2:40, names are randomly drawn to form an order. “Then, starting at the fridge, guests can pick up to five items, sometimes more,” Traverse says. “Typically, this breaks down to one fridge item, three from the produce table, and one baked good. People can then return to the end of the line and go through the process as many times as they’d like, or until we run out of food.” He estimates that most go through the line at least three times. After Market serves between 60 and 120 people per week. “It’s only getting larger,” says Traverse. “More folks are participating for the first time each week.” In total, the program donated more than 11 tons of food in 2025, with weekly distributions averaging 500 lbs. or more. “We saved a literal ton of food every month from going into the landfill,” says Traverse. “We’re providing a benefit to the community, feeding our neighbors, and really reducing our environmental impact—what’s not to love about After Market?” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jason Traverse, Assistant Director, Central Market Trust, Lancaster Central Market, 23 N. Market St., Lancaster, Pa. 17603 (jason@centralmarketlancaster.com; www.centralmarketlancaster.com).

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