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A Rebirth of an Old Idea: How It Got to Where It Is

February 2010

An Idea is Born
Greenmarket was hatched in the minds and hearts of Bob Lewis and myself two years before it opened. A confluence of forces led us in this direction. As urban planners we were alarmed at the rapid disappearance of fertile farm land in the region. In just 14 years, the mid Hudson region’s six counties had lost nearly a half million acres of its productive soils to suburban development and highways. As consumers we were deprived of the pleasures of good eating by what was described by John Hess, the Godfather of our inspiration, as “plasticized, ageless produce trucked from thousands of miles away”. John had written in the New York Times of the great success of the hundred year old Syracuse Farmers Market. Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Elinor Guggenheimer also urged the city to consider one or more in New York. Finally, deep in my experience were the many summers working on my gentleman father’s truck farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where as a teenager I hoed, hayed, harvested and hauled our vegetables to market. A lot of sweat nourished our crops and fertilized my long term ambition.

Getting Our Ducks in a Row
It is a long row from planting a seed to harvest, requiring many inputs. First we needed money, but to raise that, we needed an experienced non-profit sponsor who cared about the degradation of our regional farmland and quality of urban life. The Council of the Environment of NYC was a perfect fit with Mayor Abraham Beam and Marion Heiskell as co-chairs bringing together the city’s resources to help Greenmarket get through the bureaucratic maze. The J. M. Kaplan Fund, the Fund for the City of New York and the Vincent Astor Fund stepped up to the plate with the needed funding. Then we needed sites. The first and most successful was suggested. by Suzanne Davis of the JM Kaplan Fund.

An Idea Bears Fruit
Early on the morning of July 17, 1976, Greenmarket made its first public appearance on a city owned vacant lot on Second Avenue and 59th Street. Normally the dirt covered chain-linked fenced lot was used by police officers to park their cars under a provision of their contract with the city. On this day, however, and subsequent Saturdays throughout the summer, they agreed to turn it over to the seven plant,vegetable and fruit growers to truck in their home-grown farm produce from Long Island, New Jersey and the Hudson Valley. Behind the fence farmers arranged their colorful and aromatic displays and stood proudly at their stands as the gates were swung open promptly at 8 AM to a curious public already gathering outside. Farmers and residents greeted each other with warmth and amazement. One young New Jersey grower stood astride a flatbed pile of sweet corn, smiling broadly, as she passed down the fresh ears to hands reaching eagerly upward. With Bloomingdale’s only a block away, a better location could not have been found.. The press and TV discovered a new and lively topic to wind up the news of the day in a lively and optimistic upturn. Greenmarket, featured on Channels 2,5 and 7 during that first summer, was up and running.

The farmers market caught the attention of Margot Wellington, executive director of the Municipal Art Society and a devoted Brooklyn resident. She sought and obtained the second market that year, placed in another city owned vacant lot at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. The publicity also sparked the interest of the City Planning Department which was trying to arrest the downward spin of Union Square. The staff of the Manhattan Planning Office, headed by Mithoo Baxter, pulled together the relevant city departments, especially Highways and Traffic, to make the parking area at the north end of the square available on Saturdays. Thus, 3 markets were in place by the end of the summer.

A Tree Branches Out
Over the next 30 years the markets grew. but not steadily. During the 80′ s as many closed as opened. This was mainly due to poor choices of sites or their temporary nature. The 59th Street site was sold to a developer for a high rise apartment building. Nevertheless, with the experience of hindsight and the help of numerous individuals, agencies and planning boards, attractive sites were obtained throughout the five boroughs. The mantra of “location, location,location” is especially true with a farmers market. A farmers market is unique in several ways. It is permanently outdoors. It is temporary; the farmers fold up their tents at the end of the day and leave the space as they found it. It is seasonal, reflecting the seasonality of the produce sold in it. Finally it is a focus for the community. As such it fares best when located in a community’s recognizable heart: alongside a popular park in Tribeca, at the foot of the Tramway at 59th Street, on the plaza in front of Borough Hall in Brooklyn or next to the historic Edgar Allen Poe House in Fordham. The move to historic Abingdon Square at the confluence of Hudson Street and Eighth Avenue in the West Village resulted in large improvements in community participation.
by Barry Benepe

The Heart of the Market
The essence of the farmers market is the interchange between farmer and city resident over the joy of beautiful food harvested from local soil. The farmer has something to show with pride and the consumer shares the joy of looking, smelling, holding and finally taking it home and lending his or her own creativity to preparing, sharing and enjoying a meal. The market interchange gives each participant an opportunity to share thoughts and information, to meet neighbors and enjoy casual company. One elderly shopper wrote in a letter that “the market relieved a long day of loneliness”.
It is basically an experience on foot, often close to one’s home or at least within walking distance. One is more lulled by a varied chorus of human voices than the grinding sameness of traffic. At a very basic level the open public market is an expression of democracy and the meeting of city and country. We all help to keep the surrounding region green if we buy the products grown their.

Greenmarket Today
Under the very able management by director Michael Hurwitz, Greenmarket has grown to 45 sites, some two days a week and all year long, serving all five boroughs. Many shoppers on restricted incomes pay with state issued Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons or federal Electric Benefit Transfer cards. Nearly 800 varieties of seasonal fresh vegetables and 370 fruits are available throughout the year at all the markets combined, more than found anywhere in the city. Farms are visited on a regular basis to insure that farmers sell only what they grow or produce, the bedrock of the program. Recently one meat producer from Green County was suspended for not following this rule, leading to a lengthy article in the New York Times documenting the violation. A subsequent letter from a reader objected to the rule, saying that farmers should be able to sell the products of other farmers. When that happens, however, it leads to some farmers adopting a supermarket image, trying to please everyone, when the great value to a market is the diversity provided by individual farmers specializing in specific crops, such as the 15 varieties of hot peppers grown by New Jersey farmers Ted and Susan Blew. In small markets with only a few farmers Greenmarket rules do permit a farmer to devote up to 25% of his table to products from other local farms not otherwise available in that market, such as mushrooms, eggs or garlic..The range of products has increased enormously over the years, often in response to consumer demand. Over 130 restaurants now purchase from Greenmarket farmers throughout the city.

Nationally, there are now over 3000 farmers markets and they are growing, mostly in cities where they can efficiently serve dense populations with a minimum of motor vehicle use, thus promoting a more sustainable environment. Trips of farm produce to these markets tend to be less than 100 miles, far less than the two to three thousand many of the supermarket varieties travel. The produce sold is freshly harvested, often the day before market, in a mature form rich in nutrients and flavor. New Yorkers are fortunate in having a farmers market close to home.

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