Grow Local South Texas is a non-profit dedicated to helping the Coastal Bend support local food.
One of the ways they do this is through the Grow Local Farmer's Market, where people can shop for things like eggs, protein and produce in a centralized location.
"We are here to serve our community, to serve our small local businesses and to connect consumers and producers together,” said David Nuss, the executive director of Grow Local South Texas.
The farmer's market typically has 25 to 30 vendors every Wednesday at the Art Center of Corpus Christi. The market is open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Nuss says they like to have 85 percent of vendors be food oriented.
There are guidelines vendors have to abide by in order to sell at the Farmer's Market.
"We go out and audit the farms and see when they say we're growing broccoli, we go out and check, yes, there's broccoli growing,” Nuss said.
When the pandemic started businesses had to shut down, leaving Grow Local without a place to sell its products.
"We knew that food was going to get scarce and we wanted it to be available,” Nuss said.
That's when the Art Center of Corpus Christi stepped up.
"The art center was generous enough to allow us to use their parking lots for an alternative venue,” Nuss said.
As everyone navigated through the pandemic and food shortages, more people turned to places like the farmers market.
Local farmers were able to step up and provide food as a substitute to chain stores.
“When you go to our market you'll be able to find eggs, proteins, produce of all sorts and we don't want those people to be there just in emergencies," Nuss said. "We want to support them at all times.”
Nuss really wants the market to be a place were families can go to enjoy what South Texas has to offer as they continue to grow the program.
The next market is the Pre-Thanksgiving Market which will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Art Center of Corpus Christi. 100 N. Shoreline Blvd.
For more information about the market, click here.
And if you would like to be a vendor, you can apply here.
