Urban Food Connections of Utah is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that nourishes a healthy and joyful community through the creation of food-centric experiences, gathering spaces, educational programming and entrepreneurial opportunities.

VISION STATEMENT: UFCU envisions the preservation and activation of the historic Rio Grande Neighborhood as a year-round public market. We create a gathering space for Utah farmers, food entrepreneurs, and consumers, and strengthen the connection between our rural and urban communities.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

• Support Local: We value our local producers and Utah’s proud agricultural heritage, emphasizing a variety of locally grown foods and unique, locally created products sold by people we know as friends and neighbors.
• Create Opportunity: We create a supported environment for the incubation of diverse, locally owned small businesses and empower them to grow and scale sustainably.
• Cultivate Awareness: We offer diverse education and outreach opportunities for all members of the community through the genuine human connections and social interactions that a vibrant public marketplace promotes.
• Foster Integrity: We believe in knowing where your food comes from and how it is produced. We vet our vendors to ensure that you can trust that the products they sell are grown, raised and made in Utah by the vendors themselves. We foster transparency in our markets by requiring truth in labeling and by offering opportunities for shoppers to learn about the foods sold at the market.
• Promote Sustainability: We support sustainable farming practices and empower our growers to increase year-round availability of locally produced food for our community.
• Expand access: We believe that inclusive and just communities are built through shared access to the marketplace of local food. We provide an open, supportive and welcoming space for the community to gather around food.
• Bridge Divides: We embrace our role as a vital anchor for a strengthened downtown Salt Lake City and the Rio Grande Neighborhood, helping bridge the east/west divide of the Salt Lake Valley.
• Uphold Equity: We value and welcome diversity and believe that everyone has the right to fresh, local nutrient dense food. We encourage a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and believe we are all strengthened by a community that upholds equal opportunity for all.

Please support Urban Food Connections of Utah through our programming and with your financial support.

History of the Downtown Farmers Market

The Downtown Farmers Market was created in 1992 by the Downtown Alliance to introduce positive activities to Pioneer Park — a 10-acre green space notorious for criminal activities. Since the early years, the neighborhood, the Market and the local food movement have flourished. Our program has expanded to include the following markets, open on nearly 50 days each year in the Pioneer Park neighborhood:

• Downtown Farmers Market and Art & Craft Market (Saturdays, June - October)
• Liberty Park Market (Thursdays, June - September, 2022)
• Winter Market (Saturdays, November - April)

Our vendor mix represents more than 100 farms and ranches from within 250 miles of Salt Lake City and includes sellers from 16 counties in Utah. In addition to farm goods, you will find handmade, locally-produce food, beverages and crafts. Our motto is "Make it, bake it, grow it", and you will find that our vendors have passion and pride for the products they bring to Market. Some of Utah's iconic food businesses started at the Market, and each year a selection of our vendors make the leap from market stall to brick-and-mortar retail business.

The Markets provide an excellent venue to help us achieve our mission, but our programs reach beyond Pioneer Park. We have our hands in canning classes, food preservation demonstrations, farm tours, pop-up markets, plant sales, brown bag lectures. If local food is on the agenda, you will likely find us there.

The mission of the Market is to support sustainable, regional agriculture; to build community gathering places; to increase access to nutritious, local foods in urban areas; and to educate the consumer about shopping local. With your support, we can achieve those goals and make sure our community always has full plates of delicious, local food.