While some urban centers may be giant masses of buildings, including residences and businesses, it’s increasingly common for them not to include full-service grocery stores.

This is even more common in low-income urban areas, resulting in a reliance on processed foods.

One community in Central New York is working through both temporary and long-term solutions to provide fresh food to residents who are currently shopping at stores that have no fresh produce.

When Rhonda Vesey heard that the closure of the Tops grocery store in her neighborhood on the south side of Syracuse meant the area was without a full-service market, and therefore, fresh food, she said she knew she needed to act, forming Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now to host farmers markets in the now vacant parking lot.

“We hope to be a full-swing farmers market by the end of July, so we’re just getting started,” she said while giving us a tour of the market.

Some of the local vendors include Leah de Rosa, owner of Plum and Mule.

“Without a grocery store here, we thought we could fill in the that space, and so it’s very important to us,” she said.

At the stand for nearby Brady Farm, intern Kanischa Miller emphasized that it’s challenging to develop healthy eating habits when nearby stores primarily sell processed foods.

“We are deserving of fresh and healthy foods no matter who you are, no matter where you live. So to have that is in important,” she said.

At the Brady stand, Qiana Williams of the Central New York Community Foundation, who helped make the market possible, stressed that in a world where unhealthy foods are far easier to obtain, the market is filling a need.

“It gives families that access without having to travel far to get healthy produce,” she said.

Vesey says the market is a step in the right direction, but the group is also pushing for long-term solutions, so the next generation of kids growing up in the neighborhood can enjoy easy access to the foods they need to thrive and grow.

“Sitting down to the table with folks that can help make some heavy decisions to get a grocery store here,” she said. “There’s no reason why we should not have a grocery store no matter what the model says. So if the model doesn’t fit the model they have, well let’s find a model that is going to work.”

The market is open every Saturday in The Valley Plaza off of South Salina Street, and hopes to build a broader vendor roster over time.