Great Season for Healthy Orange Farmers’ Market

The Orange County Department of Health (OCDOH) is celebrating another successful season of the Healthy Orange Farmers’ Market in the City of Newburgh, highlighted by strong community support, fresh local produce, and engaging healthy living activities.

“Supporting local agriculture and making fresh, healthy produce accessible to our residents is a win-win for our community,” said Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus. “Markets like Healthy Orange connect families with farm-fresh foods, benefit our local farmers, and help Newburgh residents live healthier lives every day.”

A Season of Impact
This year’s market brought hundreds of residents together to learn, shop, and connect around healthy living. OCDOH partnered with The Cathedral at the House to bring these programs to the community.

Some highlights from this season include:
• Local Farmers and Vendors: Residents enjoyed farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, and other locally made goods.
• Kids’ Day: A fun-filled event before the school year kicked off featuring free hot dogs, slushies, water play, and activities with OCDOH Early Intervention, Cornell Master Gardeners, and the Regional Food Bank.
• Breast Cancer Screenings: The Cornerstone Family Healthcare mobile van screened individuals, providing free manual breast exams and education about early detection.
• Nutrition and Cooking Classes: Hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension, these hands-on classes taught residents how to prepare healthy, affordable meals using seasonal vegetables. Participants received recipe booklets and fresh produce vouchers to take home. The Regional Food Bank also joined this season and shared food demos and tips.
• Community Resources: Each week, local organizations join the market to share information about health insurance, family support services, wellness programs, and library resources.
• Raffle Giveaways: Contributions from generous community partners made weekly raffles providing free ingredients available to residents.
• SNAP Double Up Program: This initiative was sponsored by the Cathedral at the House and helped families stretch their food budgets by matching SNAP benefits for fresh produce purchases.
• Food Scraps Drop-Off: Residents could drop off food scraps for composting at the Newburgh Recreation Center. For every drop-off, participants received a stamp and after five stamps, they earned a $10 coupon to spend at the market.

Special thanks to the Orange County Office for the Aging for sponsoring the Senior Farmers’ Market Coupons and to Orange County Veterans Affairs for distributing Veterans Coupons that helped make fresh, local produce more accessible to the community.

“The Healthy Orange Farmers’ Market has truly become a place where people can connect, learn, and enjoy fresh foods,” said Meg Oakes, OCDOH Health and Wellness Coordinator. “We’re grateful to all of the vendors, partners, and residents who made this year’s market such a success.”

Healthy Orange Farm Box Program
This summer, the Healthy Orange Farmers’ Market launched the Healthy Orange Farm Box Program, delivering boxes of fresh, locally sourced produce to residents at Varrick Apartments, Burton Towers, and Cerone Place in Newburgh.

The Orange County Department of Health extends a special thank you to the apartment management teams for making each delivery a fun and engaging event, to The Cathedral at the House for coordinating logistics, and to the SNAP-Ed Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County for sharing nutrition tips and recipe booklets.

Meals on Wheels and other community agencies also played an important role in making these events possible.

The Healthy Orange Farm Fresh Program is part of the New York Food for New York Families Grant, awarded to the Orange County Department of Health through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and supported by USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program.

The Orange County Department of Health looks forward to welcoming everyone back next season, mid-June through the end of October 2026.