The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) has taken a step forward in its quest to empower the community to live healthier, longer and stronger lives. Local transit supports bicycling and walking by shortening commutes and transporting bicycles on buses, and HART considers healthy food necessary fuel for those activities. HART and their partner Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful launched the second Farmers Market at the HART University Area Transit Center (UATC) this month, after the success of their initial farmers market at the Netpark Transit Center. “Good nutrition should never be out of reach for any family, no matter where they live,” said HART COO Ruthie Reyes Burckard. “HART is a very proud partner in this continued effort.”

The market at UATC, in the midst of the agency’s second busiest transit center, operates every third Wednesday of the month from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Transit customers can then stock up on healthy, fresh and local produce to make a healthy dinner as they make their way home from work or school. More than 6,400 customers move through UATC on weekdays, so there is a real opportunity to make a difference and help someone create a healthy meal for their family. Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful will also host an information table at the markets that will provide the public with brochures and pamphlets on the benefits of healthy eating and nutrition, healthy recipes ideas, wellness and smoking cessation. “Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful is very excited to bring fresh produce to busy commuters this fall,” said Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Executive Director Debra Evenson. “We look forward to continuing to serve the community during our monthly Farmers Market in partnership with HART.”