Farmer's Markets Are Cropping Up For The Season

Summary

All Of It: Episode Summary – "Farmer's Markets Are Cropping Up For The Season"

Release Date: May 15, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart
Produced by: WNYC
Show Description: ALL OF IT explores culture and its consumers, engaging thinkers, doers, makers, and creators to delve into the what and why of their work, fostering a diverse community centered around New York City's vibrant cultural landscape.

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Introduction to Farmer's Markets and Grow NYC

[00:28] Alison Stewart: Alison Stewart opens the episode by highlighting the surge of New Yorkers visiting open-air farmer's markets as the weather warms. She introduces Liz Carollo, Assistant Director of Food Access and Agriculture at Grow NYC, an environmental organization founded in 1970. Liz joins to discuss the intricacies of farmer's markets in New York City.

[01:06] Alison Stewart: Alison invites listeners to share their favorite local farmer's markets, including details about locations, products, and favorite stalls. She encourages both consumers and vendors to engage with the show by sharing their experiences and businesses.

Origins and Evolution of Grow NYC

[01:42] Liz Carollo: Liz provides a historical overview of Grow NYC, emphasizing its roots in the original Earth Day demonstrations of 1970. Initially a think tank advising the mayor on urban issues like noise and cleanliness, Grow NYC has since evolved into a programmatic organization. Today, it manages school and community gardens, offers nutrition education, and, crucially, operates Food Access and Agriculture programs that support local farmers and oversee city-wide farmer's markets.

[02:27] Alison Stewart: Alison inquires about how farmer's markets became integral to Grow NYC's mission.

[02:33] Liz Carollo: Liz recounts the vision of Grow NYC's co-founder, Barry Ben Impe, who, inspired by his time in Europe, sought to revitalize New York City's streets by introducing vibrant farmer's markets. In 1976, Barry and co-founder Bob Lewis established the first market on 59th Street, strategically located between Alexander's and Bloomingdale's to attract high foot traffic. This initiative marked the beginning of Grow NYC's long-standing relationship with farmer's markets, now in their 49th season.

Understanding Green Markets

[03:53] Liz Carollo: Liz clarifies that a "green market" is essentially a farmer's market with a branded name, emphasizing that only producers sell directly to consumers. She explains that Grow NYC's markets feature producers from within a 200-mile radius of New York City, including local farmers, fishermen from Long Island, and producers from New Jersey. This ensures that the products offered are fresh, local, and directly support the regional agricultural community.

Listener Engagement and Experiences

[04:50] Eleanor's Testimonial: Eleanor from the Upper West Side shares her favorite experiences at the Union Square farmer's market. She highlights Lynn Haven, which offers goat's milk products, and Beulich Mushrooms, known for their variety of high-quality mushrooms. Eleanor appreciates the personal interactions with farmers and the quality of the produce, which enhances her culinary endeavors.

[05:59] Alison Stewart: Alison invites more listener interactions, encouraging others to share their local markets and favorite vendors.

[06:21] Liz Carollo: Liz elaborates on the variety of Grow NYC's markets, noting that while Union Square remains their flagship location with up to 80 vendors on Saturdays, many other markets operate with 12 to 15 stalls, offering a diverse array of fruits, vegetables, seafood, baked goods, and preserves. She also highlights dedicated food access sites that accept various nutrition benefits, aiming to make fresh produce accessible to all neighborhoods.

Becoming a Vendor and Maintaining Standards

[08:10] Liz Carollo: Liz outlines the process for becoming a vendor at a green market. Interested producers must complete an intake form on Grow NYC's website and meet strict eligibility criteria, ensuring they sell products they have grown or produced locally. An inspections and compliance team verifies each vendor's adherence to these standards, maintaining the integrity and quality of the green market brand.

[09:21] Liz Carollo: She emphasizes the importance of "producer only" markets, where farmers sell directly to consumers without intermediaries. This not only ensures fresher and higher-quality produce but also allows farmers to retain a larger portion of their profits, making it a sustainable model for small-scale producers.

Economic Considerations and Affordability

[13:26] Liz Carollo: Addressing concerns about the cost of market produce, Liz explains that while some items like eggs may be slightly more expensive at the market, overall prices for core pantry items like carrots, potatoes, and onions are comparable to grocery stores. Additionally, in-season produce benefits from lower prices due to abundance. The direct-to-consumer model eliminates middlemen, keeping prices competitive and ensuring better value for customers through superior freshness and reduced food waste.

Community Voices and Support

[11:15] Eleanor & [11:42] Pamela: Eleanor further praises the Union Square market, while Pamela from Hoboken highlights the new farmers market under the 14th Street viaduct, showcasing a variety of vendors offering everything from olive rolls and non-GMO produce to regenerative farming products and international foods like samosas.

[15:15] Rick's Contribution: Rick, a jazz musician from Princeton, discusses the symbiotic relationship between music and farmer's markets. His group performs at green market events, promoting fresh, locally-sourced food while benefiting from the supportive community and economic model that benefits both producers and artists.

Volunteer Opportunities and Support Initiatives

[16:17] Liz Carollo: Liz highlights the need for volunteers at Grow NYC, detailing how interested individuals can participate by attending monthly orientations hosted by Volunteer Manager Corey Wilkins. She mentions specific volunteer roles, such as fliring at seasonal sites and supporting emergency fund campaigns, underscoring the organization's reliance on community support to sustain its programs.

[18:05] Liz Carollo: In a call for donations, Liz emphasizes Grow NYC's financial needs amidst broader economic challenges. She urges listeners to support their emergency fund campaign to ensure the continued operation of markets and community gardens, reinforcing the organization's commitment to serving New Yorkers for another 55 years.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[19:20] Alison Stewart: Alison wraps up the discussion by thanking Liz for her insights and reiterating the importance of farmer's markets in fostering community, sustainability, and access to fresh, local food. She encourages listeners to support Grow NYC's initiatives and participate in their vibrant markets.

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Key Takeaways:

• Historical Roots: Grow NYC originated from the 1970 Earth Day movement, evolving to focus on urban agriculture and food access.
• Green Market Model: Emphasizes direct sales from local producers within a 200-mile radius, ensuring freshness and supporting small-scale farmers.
• Economic Impact: Competitive pricing through eliminating middlemen, alongside higher-quality products and reduced food waste.
• Community Engagement: Diverse market locations cater to various neighborhoods, with special programs for food access and nutrition benefits.
• Volunteer and Support Opportunities: Grow NYC relies on volunteers and donations to sustain and expand its programs, highlighting the community's role in its success.
• Cultural Integration: Farmer's markets serve as hubs for community interaction, culinary exploration, and even musical performances, enriching the cultural fabric of New York City.

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Notable Quotes:

• Liz Carollo [02:33]: "Barry on the city side, securing the permits, and Bob upstate talking farmers into coming down created the foundation of our first market."
• Eleanor [04:58]: "I just love going down there chatting with them and buying their products. Delicious."
• Liz Carollo [09:39]: "When producers can come in and sell directly to this huge metropolis, they make over 90 cents to the dollar in their pocket."
• Rick [15:19]: "We buy their products while we're there. It’s as fresh as can be, and we're helping musicians by supporting the markets."
• Liz Carollo [18:05]: "We desperately need volunteers and financial support to continue operating and serving our community."

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This episode of All Of It provides an in-depth look into the vibrant world of New York City's farmer's markets, highlighting the historical significance, economic models, community impact, and the ongoing efforts of Grow NYC to sustain and expand access to fresh, local produce. Through listener testimonials, expert insights, and calls to action, Alison Stewart and Liz Carollo paint a comprehensive picture of how these markets are essential to the cultural and nutritional landscape of the city.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Let's talk farmers markets. As the weather gets warmer, more New Yorkers flock to the open air stalls in search of plants, seasonal fruits and vegetables and a surprise or two and maybe new ones are opening up. This with the summer months on the horizon, many of those markets are run by grown nyc grow nyc. Sorry about that. Grow nyc many, the environmental organization was founded in 1970. Liz Carollo is grow nyc's assistant director of Food Access and Agriculture. She's here with me now to talk also all things Farmer's Market. Hi Liz.

[Liz Carollo]

Hey Allison. Thanks for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

Listeners, tell us about your local farmer's market. Where is it? What do you get there? What's Your favorite stand? 212-433-WNYC 212-433-9692 Are you a vendor at a farmer's market? This is your chance to tell listeners about your business. We want to hear from you. Even if you're involved in the farmer's market not Affiliated with Grow NYC, you can help us fill in the gaps as well. 212-433-W 212-433-9692 Grow WNYC began in 1970. What was the original mission?

[Liz Carollo]

Grow NYC was actually born out of the original Earth day demonstrations. In 1970 there was a group of citizens concerned about issues that were impacting the city at that time and, you know, not so different from now, but noise, empty lots, cleanliness issues. And they were more of like a think tank kind of advisory to the mayor. And now Grow NYC today is so different. We're a programmatic organization building and maintaining school and community gardens, providing education, nutrition education for young adults and older adults, and of course the program nearest and dearest to my heart, Food Access and Agriculture, where we work with local farmers and sell at markets throughout the city.

[Unknown]

So you said it grew out of.

[Alison Stewart]

The Earth Day movement. How did Farmers Markers become part of that mission?

[Liz Carollo]

Right. So that was in 1970. In 1976, our co founder, Barry Ben Impe, who had spent some time in Europe, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago and was a true visionary. Those that know Barry know his impact on the city is immeasurable he looked around and he saw the streets and thought these, the streets could be more vibrant. And I know how to do that. I'm going to invite farmers who are facing severe development pressure upstate. Some were too small to participate in, like the, in the growing wholesale market. And he said, I'm going to talk, I'm going to talk them into coming into the city and selling. So he and our other co founder, Bob Lewis hit the pavement. Barry on the kind of city side, securing the permits. And he sent Bob, he sent Bob upstate. Bob talked the farmers into coming down and they set up that first market on 59th street in a police precinct parking lot in July of 1976. So we're going into our 49th season and it was in between Alexander's and Bloomingdale's. And they knew on a Saturday that so many people would be going in between those two department stores. And they were right. It was wall to wall people. And it kind of to them seemed like, you know, New York City hadn't seen a ripe tomato in years.

[Alison Stewart]

So just for the record, what exactly is a green market?

[Liz Carollo]

Oh, okay. So a green market is, you know, a farmer's market with, with a nice name. Bob and Barry were smart enough to trademark a name there, but it's a farmer's market and we're producer only. So that means that the producers that sell at our markets, our markets, are set up for a sole mission. Right. They are set up for farmers who are growing primarily. I. The easiest way to say it is a 200 mile radius around Poughkeepsie is our growing region. So the producers come in, there's farmers and there's producers selling farm based products. Fishermen from Long island, primarily, our producers are coming from New York State, but we of course have farmers that are coming in from New Jersey, especially this time of year with all the asparagus and strawberries and there. And then we're serving New York City residents with access to fresh local food throughout all five boroughs. So that, that's, that's who's making up our markets today, those 200 producers.

[Unknown]

Let's talk to Eleanor from the Upper west side. Hi, Eleanor, thank you for making time to call all of it today.

[Eleanor]

Hi. I'm so happy to be able to talk about my favorite farmers. I go to Union Square every Wednesday and I've been doing this for years. And one of my favorite farmers is Lynn Haven. They sell goat's milk, yogurt and goat cheese, which is just delicious. And I just love going down there chatting with them and, you know, buying their products. And I eat the yogurt almost every morning and put the feta cheese in omelets and salads. Delicious. One of my other favorites is beulich mushrooms, also at Union Square, they have all kinds of mushrooms. I'm kind of a. I always get the same things. Mostly I get the cremini, which I chop up and put in omelets, or I get the portobello, which I can either mix with pasta or make a sandwich out of. So those are the. My favorite farmers.

[Unknown]

Sound like you have an excellent kitchen, by the way. Eleanor, thank you so much for calling in. Do the green markets, they have to have a certain number of stalls? I mean, I, I can picture like a guy sitting there with a. A nice crate of fruit. But does it have to fall into any sort of, any order, any sort of.

[Liz Carollo]

Well, it's, I mean, most people know our flagship at Union Square. So like when Bob and Barry opened that market in 59th Street, a few months later, they opened in Union Square. So that site alone is going also on 49 years and obviously had a. On that neighborhood. And on a Saturday, you can find 80 vendors there. Even on a Wednesday, the market open is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Even on a Wednesday, we're taking full capacity for our permit. But a lot of our markets are smaller. I would say the average market has 12 to 15 stalls. A good variety of fruits, vegetables, seafood, breads and baked goods. Honey, maple syrup, jams, like a good variety for a family to pick up what they need. And then we have a handful of sites that are a little bit smaller and exist for the sole purpose of food access in a specific neighborhood. A food access site where customers are shopping with a variety of nutrition benefits, everything from SNAP to the farmers market nutrition program checks, Fresh connect checks, that kind of thing. And we are really just trying to get fresh fruits and vegetables into as many neighborhoods as possible. So our markets do range from anywhere from two to three producers, all the way up to like the 80 that you can find at Union Square on a Saturday.

[Alison Stewart]

That's amazing. I'm speaking to Liz Carollo, assistant director of Food Access and Agriculture for Grow nyc. We're talking about farmers markets and we want to hear from you. What's your local market? What do you get there? Are you a vendor? You want to shout out your business at your local farmers market? Our phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433 wnyc or you can reach out on social media llywnyc. Now, how do vendors get involved with the green markets?

[Liz Carollo]

Great. So on our website we have an intake form. And to be eligible, for the most part, we're looking for local farmers who sell what they grow and make from their harvest, or fishermen and women from Long island and then local producers of bread, baked goods and preserves. So preserves in terms of jams or pickles, kimchis, that kind of thing. And even then those producers have to prove that they're sourcing the ingredients for their products locally. So we're very strict on the farmer selling farm based products because that's what our permits allow and that's what our mission supports. And so it when producers or farmer, farmer within the region wants to join Green Market, they go to our website and fill out a simple eligibility intake form. And then we actually have an inspections and compliance team because that's how seriously we take this and the green Market brand. And the Green Market brand means that you're buying fresh and local. And our inspections and compliance team verifies, verifies that with each of our producers, that each of our 200 producers that are in our program.

[Alison Stewart]

So does that what it means on your website when it says producer only markets or rigorous grow your own standards?

[Liz Carollo]

Right. We tend, we tend to use a lot of lingo where it's like, what does that mean? But producer only market is exactly. What it means is it's the farmer, the farmer who grew it is the one there selling it, selling it directly to you.

[Alison Stewart]

And can you explain, it may sound obvious, but why that's important?

[Liz Carollo]

Oh, sure. Yeah, that's important. I mean, you know, when I think about it from like a broader view, I, I think we all love living in New York City. I'll say. But one thing we also love about living in New York City is leaving New York City, getting a breath of fresh air, crossing a bridge and taking a deep breath. And when you drive around New Jersey, upstate New York, these places are still very pastoral or bucolic or really beautiful. And that is because they are cared for by our small farms who are growing a diversity of crops. They're grazing animals out there and they're taking care of that land. They're doing this kind of on our behalf. And then they're also caring for the water. Of course. We have one of the best watersheds and great water in New York City. And that's in part because of all of these stewards outside of the city who are caring for the land. And then when they can come in and sell directly to this huge metropolis and, and have direct access to customers that gives them, you know, they make it over 90 cents to the dollar in their pocket. They don't have to go through a middleman to sell their product. And you get this from the customer's perspective. You're getting the freshest product, so you're getting the freshest fruits and vegetables. It tastes better, the quality is significantly higher and it lasts longer at home or in your fridge. So for all these, you know, those are, those are all the reasons I have personally to shop at the market.

[Unknown]

Liz, let's take some more calls. Let's talk to Maddie who's calling in from Brooklyn. Hi Maddie, thanks for calling all of it.

[Eleanor]

Hi, how are you doing?

[Unknown]

Great.

[Eleanor]

I was calling in to talk about my favorite farmer's market, which is the Cortelieu road farmer's market in Ditmouth Park, Brooklyn. I always get the fancy mushrooms. There's a stand with, you know, kind of overpriced mushrooms that are delicious and the bread alone, bread stand, which I think is popular among some Brooklyn farmers markets.

[Unknown]

Maddie, thanks for the call. Let's talk to Pamela from Hoboken. Hi, Pamela.

[Pamela]

Hi, how are you? I love your show.

[Unknown]

Oh, thank you.

[Pamela]

I'm calling to give a shout out for our little city across from your big city, Hoboken. We have fantastic farmers markets.

[Unknown]

Oh, so tell us more.

[Pamela]

So two weeks ago the Saturday farmers market under the 14th street viaduct opened up. I think they had about 18 or 19 vendors. Hoboken Farms has the most delicious olive rolls for like a dollar each. Stony Hill farms is all non gmo, really fresh produce and fruit in season. There's French, French imported cheeses, and there's a regenerative farmer who does grass fed steak. If you eat meat, organic mushrooms, food from Mauritius, samosas, I mean, I could go on and on. It's incredible.

[Unknown]

Pamela, thank you so much for calling. This text says my go to market is Union Square on Saturday. While I especially love being able to get fresh lettuces, it's also great for people watching. A real amalgamation of New Yorkers. This text says in a pandemic the green market was and is a lifesaver. Quality produce you can shop for in person in an open air environment. I did want to ask about the prices, Liz, by the way, because some people will assume that it costs more to buy your food at a farmer's market or a green market. I mean, we've been talking about egg prices. What do you say to people who are concerned about cost.

[Liz Carollo]

Yeah, I mean, egg prices were interesting because maybe they are a little more at the market, but then once the prices went up at the store, everyone was that we were selling out of eggs. By 10am the prices were comparable. And of course the eggs at the market are, you know, bright orange and the yolk is bright orange. They're beautiful and tastier. So I think we gained a lot of customers in the last few months because of the egg crisis, actually. But in terms of affordability, I mean, like I mentioned before, these are smaller scale producers. So working on a small scale production, they, they don't have the benefit of like the bulk pricing, any subsidies. There's a lot of labor and care that goes into, into their productions. They're not immune to inflation the way everybody else, the same way everybody else is. Farmers are not immune to inflation either. So their costs have gone up. But I will say about affordability at the market, generally, if you're buying, you know, your core items for your pantry, carrots, potatoes, onions, those prices are comparable. In the studies that we've done around grocery stores, in and around markets, those prices are comparable. And then when you're buying in season, so all the tomatoes come in at once, when everybody has tomatoes, those prices start to really level off. Strawberries, all the summer peak produce, then all the fall peak produce. Once everything is in abundance, those prices really level off and you can get really good deals. There's no middlemen. So the prices can remain competitive. The producers are selling directly and then like I mentioned before, just the value for your money, of course, it tastes so much better and you're less likely to have any waste because it's fresher and it lasts longer.

[Unknown]

Let's talk to Rick, who's calling from Princeton, New Jersey. Hi, Rick, you're on the air.

[Rick]

Hi.

[Matt]

Thank you so much for taking my call. I'd like to say that I'm a jazz musician, I'm a drummer and we play a lot of the green market events. So it's twofold. Not only are you shopping for great food and with no bad ingredients in that food fresh, we love it. We perform a great service because of the Jazz foundation of America that supplies it and pays us for it, but we also buy their products while we're there. And I love it. It's as fresh as can be. And I love helping people because the supermarkets and the capitalistic system is really giving us a bad deal. So I'm all in favor of it. And we're going to continue to do it as Long as the, you know, the opportunity is there for us and it supplies work for the jazz musicians also.

[Unknown]

Rick, thank you so much for calling us. Grow NYC takes volunteers. How can someone get involved? Liz?

[Liz Carollo]

Oh, thanks for asking, Allison. We have an incredible volunteer manager, Corey Wilkins, who organizes and hosts a monthly orientation for so for anyone interested, you have to be 18 or older to sign up to volunteer at a food access site at a community garden. We operate an urban farm out on Governor's Island. We have volunteers go out there. So Corey hosts the orientation each month. That's the main requirement. It's one hour. It's on Zoom, so very accessible. And then as soon as you're done, you have access to our portal of opportunities and you can get out there and volunteer. I'll make a extra plug. We're looking for volunteers right now for fliring at our seasonal opening sites and also spreading the word about our ongoing emergency fund campaign. So we, we desperately need volunteers at all times and especially now.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to Matt from Bergen County, New Jersey. Hi Matt, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Rick]

Hey, hey, thank you for taking my call. I appreciate it. Up here in Ramsey, New Jersey, we have a beautiful farmer's market up here. But I got a shout out to my friends at Doc Pickle that do all the farmers markets here in Ramsey and throughout New Jersey in Suffern in Rockland County. I'm sure a lot of your listeners that frequent those farmers markets know Doc Pickle. The line is huge and I gotta say, I've known those guys forever. Three generations of Pickles Pickled here up in Patterson. They've been doing it since the 60s or before. Really appreciate the farmers markets and yeah, that was it. Just shouting out to my friends at.

[Alison Stewart]

Doc Pickle like it. Matt, thanks for calling in. Before we go, I wanted to ask you about any other initiatives that green, that GrowNYC has going on right now.

[Liz Carollo]

Well, in case I didn't get a chance to miss it, I did want to shout out to my colleagues who run our Food Access Initiatives team. Of course, at every market we accept SNAP Farmers Market Nutrition program checks. Just last year alone, we did $5.4 million in nutrition benefit sales across all of our programs. So very significant. And that feeds into, you know, what's happening on the federal level. Nobody is going to be immune from it, particularly nonprofit organizations seem to be particularly under attack. And we at Grow NYC have launched an emergency fund campaign and we are calling on New Yorkers to continue to support our work, become donors, whether it's a one time donation or a monthly donation and continue to help us operate. We you know, We've been here 55 years. We plan to be here for 55 years more running markets and building and maintaining community gardens. But we need financial support from from you all. So thanks for letting me shout that out. And yeah, we're running our emergency fund campaign right now. If you go to grownyc.org, you'll find information for it on our front page.

[Alison Stewart]

We've been talking green markets with Liz Carollo, Assistant Director of Food Access and.

[Unknown]

Agriculture for Grow NYC.

[Alison Stewart]

Thanks a lot, Liz.

[Liz Carollo]

Thanks, Allison.

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