Program offers Kansas City area residents reduced-cost or free transportation to local Farmers Markets
For more information contact:
Kelly Cannon
Kelly.Cannon@BlueKC.com
W: 816.395.3711, C: 816.686-3842
KANSAS CITY, MO. (July 22, 2019) —During the week of August 4th, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) is partnering with Cultivate KC to offer reduced-cost or free transportation to local farmers markets in celebration of National Farmers Market Week.
Transportation options will include discounted Lyft rides to any of the eligible markets, free use of the Blue KC parking garage near the bustling City Market, and free use of Bike Walk KC to local farmers markets. The program is part of Blue KC’s Well Stocked community impact program, which is dedicated to increasing access to nutritious food in underserved areas of Kansas City.
Participating Farmers Markets include City Market, KCK Farmers Market, Independence Uptown Market, Ivanhoe Farmers Market and Overland Park Farmers Market.
"In June, we launched Market Days by offering discounted Lyft rides to the City Market and Overland Park Farmers Markets.," said Macaela Stephenson, Manager of Community Relations at Blue KC. "We’re excited to be able to expand Market Days to include other options of transportation and even more Farmers Market options for residents."
This initiative is also supported by Well Stocked partner, Cultivate KC, who manages the Double Up Food Bucks program at each of the Farmers Markets and works with farm vendors to ensure that SNAP users can redeem their match dollars for fruits and vegetables. Double Up Food Bucks offers matched dollars to SNAP EBT Card carriers and those qualified for SNAP on eligible purchases at the Farmers Markets.
For more information on how to take advantage of this promotion visit the Well Stocked Market Days Event Page.
To take advantage of this promotion, community members can use code BLUEKC2019 for Bike Walk KC or Lyft rides to the following Farmers Markets during their opening hours (listed below).
| Market | Days of Operation | Hours of Operation |
| City Market | Sunday, August 4th & Saturday, August 10th |
7 am – 3 pm (Sat.) 9 am – 3 pm (Sun.) |
| Ivanhoe Farmers Market | Saturday, August 10th | 9 am – 12 noon |
| Independence Uptown Market | Wednesday, August 7th & Saturday, August 10th | 7 am – 1 pm |
| KCK Farmers Market—2220 Central Ave | Tuesday, August 6th | 7:30 am – 12 noon |
| KCK Farmers Market—6th & Tauromee | Wednesday, August 7th | 7:30 am – 12 noon |
| KCK Famers Market—Community College Campus Blvd & Argentine Ln. | Thursday, August 8th | 7:30 am – 12 noon |
| Overland Park | Wednesday, August 7th & Saturday, August 10th |
7:30 am – 1 pm (Wed.) 7 am – 1 pm (Sat.) |
You can also park in the Blue KC parking garage located at 2301 Main Street, and either walk or take the Kansas City Streetcar to the City Market.
To learn more about Blue KC’s Well Stocked program, visit the Well Stocked webpage and follow Blue KC’s Facebook and Twitter for information about future events and opportunities to join the Well Stocked initiative.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.
About Cultivate KC
Cultivate KC is a locally-grown nonprofit working to food, farms and community in support of a sustainable and healthy local food system for all. Cultivate KC began in 2005 as the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture with the goal of promoting urban farming, the growing of food in city neighborhoods to feed other people. Today it serves as a resource provider and advocate to urban growers while also managing programs to promote local food and provide public education on sustainable agriculture. For more information, please visit www.cultivatekc.org.