The NYBG Greenmarket: More Than a Place to Buy Food

Posted in Learning Experiences on August 13 2013, by Jennifer Caplan

Jennifer Caplan is an intern for the NYBG Greenmarket this summer season. She is an environmental studies and international affairs double major at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She is interested in gardening and cooking the fruits and vegetables purchased at the NYBG Greenmarket and her local market.

Although the food at the market is always fun to taste and look at, the people and the events are probably the best part of all. The New York Botanical Garden Greenmarket is fortunate to have not only a wide selection of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and baked goods, but we also have weekly guests that come to promote healthy living for those in the community, like the Albert Einstein College of Medicine sharing a study on Hispanic community health, or helping locals lead a more sustainable lifestyle with Bronx Green-Up’s Compost Q&As.

GrowNYC is also on location at the market to provide cooking demonstrations and recipes, and to assist customers using debit or credit cards, WIC and FMNP coupons, and EBT payments. The GrowNYC tent is also where you can learn about farmer’s markets in other parts of New York City, each one being unique in its own way.

If you have any questions on any of the goods being sold at the market, make sure you talk to the vendors and farmers who are present—they sure do love to talk! Last week I had a chance to talk to one of the farmers from Gajeski Produce. We discussed what it was like to have a farm on Long Island and how it was affected by extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy last fall and the recent heat wave. He said that when Long Island flooded during Sandy, many of his leafy herbs died from salt damage, hurting the farm’s production. Now, the recent heat has caused them to water more frequently, and their crop yield has been successful.

Now that I am coming into my final weeks of working at the Greenmarket, I am able to reflect on how fortunate I have been to learn about the other side of food production. Actually getting to know the Long Island farmer who dug up the potatoes that are on your dinner plate and knowing that the radishes you put in your salad are from Tivoli, New York, and not some mystery location, makes a difference. The flavor is fresher because the produce has not traveled extremely long distances, and the smiles are bigger because you are buying from people who take pride in the food they provide.

The Greenmarket is held every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. So come stop by the market and check out what our vendors are offering each week. And if you are planning on coming on a regular basis, make sure you pick up a season parking pass and a frequent shopping card to win prizes!