Triad Black Farmers Market returns to Guilford County for Juneteenth

The Triad Black Farmers Market is returning to Guilford County for Juneteenth. This is part of an effort by local leaders to bring fresh produce to a Greensboro area that officials consider a food desert.

The event will feature Black farmers across the state selling everything from greens, beets and cucumbers to chicken, beef and eggs. There will also be live music and performances.

Minority/Women Business Enterprise Program Director Shaunne Thomas says the market started last year through a partnership with Triad Black Faith Leaders and Black Farmers Network working to eliminate food deserts.

"We came to the table to assist them with that effort, thinking more from an economic development lens that we have small minority businesses that provide those fruits and vegetables and meats and they themselves aren't always connected with the people who would purchase their product," Thomas says.

The event is being held in east Greensboro, where the community has faced a lack of access to fresh food for years.

"For some reason, nobody. wants to go in there and open a grocery store, and whatever those reasons are don't make sense when it comes to the health of a community and so we're working very hard to try to make sure that our community has the same access as other communities that live longer and are healthy," she says.

Thomas says the county hopes to next bring the market to a food desert in High Point in August.