Pop-Up Farmers Market with the African Alliance of RI and Bami Farm

Bringing Vegetables Closer to the Community!

Ally, advocate and a constant server to Rhode Island’s growing African community, the African Alliance of Rhode Island (AARI) are stewards of the six acre Bami Farm in Johnston, RI, and creator of the Pop-Up Farmers Market serving as an oasis in the city of Providence’s fresh produce desert. 

On a mission to connect community through art, food, culture, & health, summed up in the motto: “Growing Healthier Together“, the African Alliance of Rhode Island launches another in their series of the 2024 season of their popular Pop-Up Farmers Market this Saturday, July 13th, from 9am to noon at the St. Martin dePorres Senior Center, 160 Cranston Street, Providence.

Jason Jarvis, one of only two professional black commercial fishermen in Rhode Island will be joined by locally made ice cream and harvested vegetables – all headlining the African Alliance of Rhode Island’s Pop-Up Market program. 

On a mission to connect community through art, food, culture, & health, summed up in the motto: “Growing Healthier Together“, the African Alliance of Rhode Island third installment features a commercial fisherman offering instructions on food safety when preparing seafood.                                                                                   
Inspired by nature and the flavors they create, Gather Farms will be selling their locally made ice cream created from ingredients of produce grown on their farm in Johnston.

Representatives from Providence Community Health Center of Rhode Island, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and One Neighborhood Builders and Urban Ventures of Rhode Island are among the local resources available to answer questions about their services and programs.              

The AARI’s pop-up market is stocked from the basics ranging from carrots and onions, to culturally relevant staples, such as a variety of peppers, greens, and root vegetables native to members of Rhode Island’s growing African community.  

Locally grown produce is transformed into six distinct products manufactured locally at Harvest Kitchen, that include : Carrot-apple jam, Pickled Garden Eggs, Pickled Okra, and a spicy Bitter Ball Relish. 

The goal is to build awareness about where the foods they consume are sourced, as part of AARI’s Food Is Medicine Campaign. “Visitors are amazed to discover how far the foods they purchase actually travel before it reaches their table, as compared to fresh, locally grown produce,” says Pop-Up Market Manager Yanel Severino. 

This summer the Alliance celebrates twenty years of serving Providence’s multicultural neighborhoods with local, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods .“You won’t find produce like ours anywhere else”, says African Alliance of Rhode Island Executive Director and Bami Farm creator Julius Kolawole. 

Bami Farm sits on six and a half acres of leased farmland to provide plots of land for African immigrants to grow. As of 2018, Bami Farm, as well as the many community gardens AARI established, has enabled community members to gain autonomy over their health by growing their own food in communal spaces. Additionally, farmers who started in these community gardens in Providence have been able to expand, grow, and sell larger quantities of produce because of the Johnston, Rhode Island farm.

“Our ability to sell and grow produce has also allowed us to donate produce and collaborate with local fishermen to make fish available, contributing to food access and nutrition in resource centers such as elderly centers and churches, and making a significant impact in local neighborhoods,” added Julius.

The African Alliance of Rhode Island (AARI) are stewards of Bami Farm and creators of the Pop-Up Farmers Market serving as an oasis in the City of Providence’s fresh produce desert.