Digging In and Standing Tall
Juneteenth at the Farmers Market in 2025
Farmers market managers are experts in rolling with whatever the world throws at us—whether that’s extreme weather or a literal plague. Juneteenth in 2025: that’s feeling like a really big deal.
Since January, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) has gone from the new normal to a four letter word in Washington. For local foods, that has had devastating effects. We’ve seen statewide programs frozen so that the remaining federal workforce could check them for alignment with executive orders, and while for some the funds are flowing again, thousands of small farmers and consumers across the country are facing an end to crucial farmers market programs like SNAP matching and local foods in schools.
In the middle of all this scrutiny directed at projects that dare to talk about race and equity, Juneteenth is a powerful moment, so powerful, in fact, that some cities have canceled their celebrations altogether. At the same time, others are newly recognizing the day and committing to even bigger events.
While market managers are a flexible bunch, in the middle of all this it makes sense to have some questions. Is Juneteenth still a federal holiday under this administration? Are farmers markets that honor it risking their safety and their funding? How do we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion now that the words themselves are literally banned in some contexts?
What’s Juneteenth? Juneteenth stands for June nineteenth. It commemorates the day in 1865 when news of the emancipation proclamation finally reached still-enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, two whole years after the proclamation had been signed. Originally a Texas holiday, Juneteenth had been celebrated within Black communities across the country for decades before President Biden made it an official federal holiday in 2021.
For farmers markets, Juneteenth events can go way beyond the holiday’s traditional foods. Since it’s a holiday about the forms of connection and community that helped Black Americans survive through centuries of enslavement, honoring this holiday means lifting up some of the most important aspects of the culture of farmers markets as well: community, relationships, and shared leadership. By working with farmers, food systems advocates and organizers, and Black led organizations to honor the work they do and share it with our markets, our customers, our vendors, and our partners, Markets can create incredibly impactful moments this week.
Here are some ways we’ve seen farmers markets around the country recognizing Juneteenth:
Community-Centered Commemorations: Drawing on community means bringing in partners to help coordinate events or even organize them entirely. Markets across the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania created a jam-packed week of coordinated events from June 14th-20th including, at Easton Farmers’ Market, a day of free stickers, display boards about Easton’s Juneteenth History provided by a local museum, and speakers and music from local Black creators. West Ward Market will host Easton Garden Works for an educational “Freedom Farm and Black Farmer History Learning Lab.”
In East Lansing, MI, market manager and Anti-Racist Farmers Market Toolkit co-author Karla Forrest Hewitt organized a day of craft and dance with a local dance troupe. The event spotlights Black community members and invites deep engagement with the meaning of Juneteenth, all while leaning into Farmers Market’s unique ability to draw together partnerships.
Makers Markets: Texas has been honoring Juneteenth longest, so it makes sense that the holiday is huge across the lonestar state. Makers Markets showcasing Black vendors are happening across the state this year, some stand alone, and others added to existing markets.
Detroit’s Dodge Park Farmers Market organizers have added an event featuring 30 Black vendors along with food trucks to their weekly evening market. San Francisco's Foodwise is hosting Black-owned businesses at Juneteenth on the Waterfront and with pop ups throughout this month.
Triad Black Faith Leaders, Black Farmers Network, and other organizations are coordinating with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension for the second year in a row to host a market in Greensboro specifically showcasing Black farmers.
Juneteenth comes every year at the start of the summer, just as our farms and markets are taking off and our communities are showing up. No matter what words we use to talk about it, this year’s Juneteenth helps us honor our commitment to each other, to creating communities of belonging, economic opportunity for farmers, and food systems resilience for our neighbors, even—and especially—when times are tough.
Market Haul
Find more info on programs listed in the article with these links:
Statewide programs frozen in Colorado
Others find Juneteenth more important than ever
Foodwise holds Juneteenth on the Waterfront in San Francisco,, California
Originally a Texas holiday, some history of Juneteenth
Farm Aid calls for a deeper commitment to justice
Easton Farmers’ Market Juneteenth activities June 14th
Detroit’s Dodge Park Farmers Market featuring 30 black-owned vendors June 19th
In Greensboro, a market specifically showcasing Black farmers.
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