The hidden markets at the heart of Carlton

Since 2014, the Carlton housing estates have been home to a buzzing marketplace hidden away from the main Lygon St shopping strip.

On Friday mornings the space comes to life with a hub of community activity, offering local produce, tea, handmade goods, workshops and dancing.

Community Grocer founder and CEO Russell Shields said the markets were a not-for-profit initiative all about supporting the community with locally-grown, fresh food.

“We set up the markets to improve access to high quality fresh and vegetables for everybody, with a particular focus on people in public housing towers,” Mr Shields said.

“We get our produce from wholesalers and it’s 60 per cent cheaper than supermarkets.”

The Community Grocer has been running the fresh food markets in Carlton since 2014, after the organisation recognised the site as a small pocket of disadvantage located within a broader context of wealth.

Mr Shields said that as many members of the community struggled to access fresh food locally, the markets became a community-led model that moved beyond the typical welfare style of handing out free food.

“For people who are struggling with food insecurity or access to affordable fruit and vegetables, the two biggest barriers are finances and physical access,” Mr Shields said.

“So, we’ve worked to remove those two barriers.”

Each market is run by Community Grocer market manager Isabella Bertolacci and a team of volunteers, along with local residents of the estate.

It takes place on Friday mornings from 8am to 12pm and is open to the general public.

“The market is open to the public and we’d love for everyone to come,” Mr Shields said.

Although the market was initially intended to just be fruit and vegetables, community engagement has seen it evolve.

“Residents come and volunteer, we have amazing women from the horn of Africa who sell hand-woven goods,” Mr Shields said.

“It’s a hub on a Friday, the community just comes to hang out and lots of people participate.”

This has also been the case for the Community Grocer’s other markets, which are stationed at Fitzroy, Pakenham and Heidelberg West.

Since lockdown ended, the Carlton markets have been buzzing.

“We’ve had great support from the community, they’d rather come to us than go to a large supermarket and take public transport,” Mr Shields said.  “The need has definitely increased over the last year with COVID.”

The markets are located at 478 Drummond St, Carlton •

For more information: thecommunitygrocer.com.au