Jefferson University Hospitals

Held in front of Jefferson’s 925 Chestnut Building (on Chestnut Street between 9th and 10th) every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., through October, the Jefferson Farmers’ Market gives those who live and work in Philadelphia a chance to purchase fresh-cut flowers; juicy, delicious fruits; fresh-baked European breads; and colorful, healthful veggies from area producers.

Some of the vendors at the Jefferson Farmers’ Market include:

• Fruitwood Farms. Fruitwood Farms grows tree fruit and vegetables on 110 acres in Monroeville, NJ, in South Jersey’s Gloucester County. The farm also has an apiary pollination service in which its bees are trucked to Florida and pollinate crops along the east coast up to Maine. Next year, some of Fruitwood’s hives will travel to California to pollinate the almond trees.
• Rineer Family Farms. Nestled in the rolling hills of southern Lancaster County along the banks of the Pequea Creek, Rineer Family Farms covers 110 acres of this fertile ground and includes tilled fields and grazing pastures. The Rineer family is particularly proud that their family farm is a Preserved Farm in Lancaster County, ensuring the farm will remain in agriculture forever. The Rineers raise a wide variety of products on their farm – including fruits and vegetables, grass-fed beef and chickens for egg production. They provide farm-fresh products to the consumers of Philadelphia year round, including five summertime farmers’ markets, two wintertime farmers’ markets and the Winter Harvest program.
• Valley Shepherd Creamery (selling every other week at Jefferson’s Farmers’ Market). Valley Shepherd Creamery produces handmade European-style fresh and aged cheeses from sheep milk at its farm in Long Valley, Morris County, NJ. The farm produces yogurt and soft cheeses, such as brie and ricotta, and many kinds of aged cheeses from the sheep and cow milk with names like Oldwick Shepherd (like a mild Manchego), Bababloo (creamy blue cheese), Tartuffo Shepherd (with pieces of Tuscan truffle) and Schmeerage cream cheese with garlic chives.

The Jefferson Farmers’ Market is part of an institutional commitment to the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge.