Flats Mentor Farm, Lancaster, MA, USA

The roots of the Flats Mentor Farm program run long and deep with its beginnings going back to the mid 80s, when Maria Moreira, an immigrant from Portugal, befriended a group of Hmong in the Fitchburg area. She was approached by a Hmong woman from the group who asked if she could start a small garden on an unused corner of her dairy farm. Maria was astonished at the yield of vegetables that were produced from the small plot: cucumbers, squash, and zucchini. This encouraged her to rent other parcels of land to others in the group who were now eager to try their hand at growing vegetables too. She watched the farmers’ from a distance as she raised her family and ran her cheese business but realized that without funds the Hmong would not be able to progress far.

As a working farmer Maria had access to many government programs available to farmers as well as connections within the agricultural community. It was through these connections that various government agencies approached Maria to help the farmers working on her land but none of them provided much culturally appropriate expertise to the Hmong farmers. Maria decided to take over the helm herself in 2005. By this time Maria had rented out most of her land to immigrant farmers. She told me that she has never turned anyone away who wants to learn to farm but “I tell them it is hard work, you have to have motivation, and you have to take care of your weeds. If you don’t take care of your weeds, you can’t stay on the land.”
In 2005, the program was formally organized under the name Flats Mentor Farm and filed for 501c3 status with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Extension acting as their fiscal agent. Heifer International, U.S. Department of Agricultural, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and the University of Massachusetts Extension teamed up to provide financial support for the program. This allowed Maria to hire four (two part-time) Hmong employees including a full time farm manager.

Maria told me that the goal of the program is “to mainstream immigrant farmers” and with this in mind she has devised a hands-on training program that is sensitive to the various cultures that she works with. The University of Massachusetts is providing training and technical assistance to the group on pest and weed management; farmers have attended conferences, and attended courses at the New England Vegetable and Fruit Growers Association, New England Sustainable Small Farm Project and various others.

In 2007, there were 50 families in the mentoring program and in 2008 they have already exceeded that number with five Kenyans joining them in June. Twelve farmers have moved through the program and are now independent commercial farmers farming on land that constitutes the FMF. Maria told me that based on the goals of the program “success has been achieved when either the farmer starts a farming enterprise at the Flats Mentor Farm or anywhere else and is making most of his/her income from farming. If s/he decides to stay that s/he passes on to another novice farmer what s/he learned. Maria’s family has owned the farm since 1980 but rent parcels of land out to anyone who wishes to take up farming.

In 2008, the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture donated a new tractor to the farm and this year they had the money to lay pipes to drain water from the very flat land. Equipment such as the tractor, two washing sheds, and the irrigation system are shared by all. The results of this funding are easy to see as in 2005 they attended only six farmers’ markets, in 2007, twenty three (23) and planned for 2008 will be 32.

The farmers grow traditional ethnic crops such as: melons, Mustard greens, red and green Amaranth squash, Asian cucumbers, arrugula, mustard, and Broccoli. Bitter melon, baby boc choi, Shanghi boc choi, water spinach, greens and herbs. In their homeland they farmed these vegetables among rice, maize, and poppy plants. It is generally agreed that vegetables planted among poppies are the most delicious. However, at FMF they do not grow rice, maize or poppies! All of these vegetables are particularly popular with Asian and Hmong customers. However others are largely unfamiliar with these vegetables and they won’t buy them in any kind of quantity. To combat this problem they have spent the spring working on a recipe booklet that will be available in the summer at all the farmers’ market that they will be attending. Most of the vegetables just need to be stir fried, for example water spinach, yam leaves, bitter melons, and angled luffas (also called sinqua).
Making the Connections

The Hmong market their produce through Russo’s, Whole Foods (Fresh Pond, Woburn, Newton, and Newtonville and at 32 farmers markets in the Greater Boston area. Because the customer base at each farmers’ market is not that large for Asian vegetables the group meets as a whole to decide on what farmer will go to which market. The farmers are then responsible for building relationships with their customers and knowing what vegetables they will buy. For the wholesale side of the operation all the farmers pool their produce but each farmer knows exactly what he has sent.

New York Greenmarkets

Check out my story on the Greenmarkets in New York City in the latest Farmers' Market Today magazine.
www.farmersmarkettoday.com

Hum! since the link is not live yet. Here is a preview of the article

Food is nourishment for our soul, our body, and our mind that starts from the moment we pick or select our vegetables at the market. Food is life and it doesn’t come out of a box but from the earth. It is for this reason that while I was in New York recently I went in search of a farmers’ market. Once you have shopped at one you really don’t want to shop in a supermarket ever again. So off I went to Union Sq. Farmers Market on of about 30 markets in the city run by Greenmarkets.

When Greenmarket first started operating they had problems with farmers’ buying their produce at the wholesalers in the City and reselling it at the market. Today Greenmarket has a paid farm inspector who visits the farms on a regular basis and checks that what the farmer is selling is what he is growing producing.

At the end of the day all unsold produce is bagged up and put on City Harvest vans by their volunteers under the supervision of the market manager(s). Last year Union Sq. Market sent 275,000 pounds of food to City Harvest. This is a significant contribution as food in the food banks in NYC has dropped by 40% due in one reason to the stalled Farm Bill in the Senate.

Greenmarket is pretty much self-funded with an operating budget upwards of $1.5 million. This money is used to manage the entire market operation; which includes new initiatives such as the New Farmer Development Project (NFDP).

The NFDP project was created in 2000 as a partnership between Greenmarket and the Cornell Cooperative Extension's NYC Program. The project is based in New York City and supports new farmers within the city, New York's Hudson Valley & Catskill Regions, New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. The NFDP identifies, educates, and supports immigrants with agricultural experience by helping them become local farmers and establish small farms in the region. Their focus at the moment is on farmers’ from Latin American.

In 2002, Nestor Tello from Mexico and Hector Tejada (pictured on left)
from the Dominican Republic were the first two farmers to come through the program and start selling at the Greenmarkets. By 2007, the project had assisted 17 immigrant farmers’. Because of the cost of insurance the farmers are covered under the NFDP.

The market is continually evolving as funds become available. Currently, Union Square plays host to over 100 public and private schools each year who receive Market Tours and learn about the value of a local food system.

The farms involved vary in acreage from one to 650 acres with 250 acres leased rather than owned. Some of the farmers’ rely entirely on the markets for their income, some have CSAs’ and some are thinking of starting one. For the immigrant farmers however, only 25% are full-time farmers while the rest have winter jobs. The non-immigrant farmers make about 70-100% of their income from the farmers’ market and the rest through selling directly to restaurants and CSAs. Almost all the farmers’ attend more than one market around the city.

Farmer Profiles
Cato Corner Farm, Colchester, CT
They are popular for the raw milk hormone free cheeses. They told me that the market provides them with 70% of their income. Apart from the market sales they also sell directly to restaurants and some specialty shops and wholesale through Artisan Made – Northeast LLC. They have no distributor.

Evolutionary Organic Farms
Kira has been growing and selling in Greenmarket for 12 years. She got a spot at the market the very first year she applied. She derives 90% of her income from the Greenmarkets and the other 10% from a small CSA at her farm. She told me that she “hasn’t seen a change in what customers want but rather a change in what they are willing to try”. Kira grows vegetables that she likes such as raddichio, asian greens, and different varieties of summer and winter squashes. For many years she said “I brought these vegetables to the market only to put them back on the van to take home again. Now I find that customers are trying them and finding that they like them even though they don’t look like they expect”.

Lynnhaven Goat Farm, Pine Bush, New York
She has been with the Saturday market for two years and the Wednesday market for seven months. Lynn told me “that she did not think that she would get a spot before she died” but luck was on her side when Coach Farms Gold Creamery sold their creamery to a big company making them ineligible to stay in the market and she was given their spot. Her operation is tiny 70 goats but the market had made a huge difference in her life and the income she makes at the market supports herself, her son, and her goats. Since she has been at the market she has contracted with local chefs who come to the market and pick up the cheese. She is 100% dependent upon the market income.

Pafftenroth Gardens, Warwick, New York

They have been at the market for 18 years. They grow their produce traditionally and are perhaps the most highly rated produce farmer at the market. They have been listed in Zagats for the past five years whose participants rated the vegetables as “superior root vegetables” and “fabulous.” He has been praised by the likes of Alice Waters, and pursued by local celebrity chefs. Alex told me that his produce is the least expensive in the market and of the highest quality. He grows difference produce, and new things that the customer has not seen before. He has signs up on most of his vegetables telling customers’ what it is and what to do with it. When he comes to the markets on Wednesday and Saturday he starts his day at 3:15 a.m. when he raises and gets home at 8:30 pm. He gets 100% of his income from the market. He is a very friendly farmer indeed.

Stokes Farms. Old Tappan, New Jersey
They have been with the market for 31 years. They have a farm stand too and 17 greenhouses where they grow flowers and herbs. They told me that the flowers and herbs out of six of the greenhouses come to the Union Sq. market. They are known for the excellent fresh produce and their big beautiful herb plants. They also have a nice mix of heirloom tomatoes. The major changes that they have seen in their 31 years at the market are that customers are much more aware of local produce and what it means then when they first started. They said that quality seemed to be the first issue with customers and then price.

Tellos Green Farm, Red Hook, New York


They have been at the market six years. Nestor Tello and his wife Alejandra raise 4,000 chickens on four acres of pasture. Being the skeptical person I am I asked Nestor if they really went out side. He said“Yes, they do. At noon I go and let them out of their barn and at dusk they all come back again. If you don’t believe me you can ask the farm manager because we are inspected.” I asked him what he fed them and he said “they eat what they can outside and then I also give them corn.”

He started at the Union Sq. Market where he met chefs who were coming to the markets to buy produce for their restaurants. Then, as chefs or other restaurant staff members moved to new restaurants or started their own restaurants, he maintained the connection and was able to develop new buyers through his old relationships. As the chefs changed restaurants they made arrangements for him to deliver to their restaurants. These restaurants pay $3.00 a dozen for his eggs which is a premium price for buying in bulk. At the market he sells his large eggs for $3.25. Nestor also has a CSA in the Brooklyn market and either he or his wife is at one of ten markets during the week. Nestor’s plans are for a totally biodynamic farm. The majority of his hens are Rhode Island Reds but he also has Araucana.

It was just by chance that during the week I stopped into an organic restaurant in SOHO for lunch and the waitress told me that their egg dishes were very popular and that a farmer delivered eggs to them weekly along with honey. It turned out that this farmer was Nestor.

The most repeated question I heard from customers while I was talking to market managers in the smaller markets was “how do the prices compare.” Compare to what I thought! The market managers merely said that there were a variety of prices and they should shop around but they would not be the same as from somewhere that could buy in bulk. According to the market managers price was the most often asked question and it came from people at all socioeconomic levels. They said that most of their customers were either middle class or those using WIC food coupons. They felt the WIC program was a wonderful situation for both the customer and the farmer. The farmers; I talked to all said that they had seen a surge in requests for organic produce and I noticed that when customers were told that there were farmers who had organic produce the question of price seemed to disappear in their eyes and body language.

What Makes A Farmers' Market Successful?

For the past few years, I have been a customer at several different farmers’ markets in Boston where Kimball Fruit Farm sells produce. I couldn’t help noticing there were always a lot of customers around their stalls. Often there would be a line of waiting customers, while other nearby businesses would have only a few customers. Yet, the vegetables all looked similar.

What, I wondered, made Kimball’s stand so popular? Something had to be different, and I wanted to know what it was.

The only way to find out was to ask, so that is what I did. I interviewed Marie Hills, who with her husband Carl, owns and operates Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, Mass.

Marie knows the business side of the farm’s operation. She attributes its success to good farming practices, good help, good business practices and personal qualities of both the family and their employees.

To see the full interview go to
http://www.edibleboston.net
To see the full story go to
http://www.www.farmersmarketstoday.com/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=48

Notthinghill (London) Sat. Farmers' Market

While I was in London in April, 2008 I visited the Nottinghill Gate farmers’ market a small neighborhood market with wonderful vendors. All of these vendors, in addition to the markets they attended had a box scheme for customers as well as a farm shop which made up 100% of their income. They were very friendly and happy to discuss their operations while at the same time serving their customers.

A few vendors that stood out for me was Shabden Park Farm from Surrey who farm on 420 acres of land and have a wonderful and very informative website.


Since they were so transparent in theie operations at the market I am not surprised to see the wealth of information on their website. So do check it out at www.shabdenparkfarm.com. Their lambs are bred from Suffolk cross ewes using a Charollais ram, and from North Country Mules using a Suffolk ram and are reared on grasses, herbs and wildflowers free from chemical fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides. They employ traditional, extensive sheep farming methods.

Another vendor that I liked was Twelve Acres.

Dan Green is a fifth generation farmer whose expertise is in organic pig farming. He raises Tamworth, Large Black and Middle White all traditional breeds on 12 acres of land.
His is a much smaller operation so their website is rather basic. www.12greenacres.co.uk

Olive Farm in Somerton has 140 Guernsey cows (my favorite along with Jersey’s) on 300 acres. In 2007 they won the prestigious Taste of The West Awards for the Best of Dairy with their untreated Guernsey Cream. They were doing a very brisk business at the market selling raw milk and cream.

Clare’s Organics was run by a young couple, Paul and Clare Sykes who are tenant farmers on the border of Wiltshire/Oxfordshire. They raise 2,000 Hubbard chickens on 7 acres of land and rotate the birds on a three month cycle. The birds are outside three quarters of the time (required to be certified organic) and they are killed at a local (4 miles away) organic slaughterhouse every Wednesday. At the Saturday market they sell around 80 birds. Check out their website at www.claresorganics.co.uk

There was wonderful buffalo cheese being sold by ALHAM WOOD FARM, along with raw milk and yoghurt with live bacteria. When I last checked their website was not interactive but here is the link. www.buffalo-organics.co.uk

And last but not last a farm whose name I might have spelt wrong since I cannot find a link to them at all and that is Roakedy Farm in West Sussex.

They had 20,000 laying chickens on 60 acres of organic land along with another 17 acres that they lease. There chickens are Colombia, Black Feather and Gold Line (all hybrids)

Recent Visit to London Farmers' Markets

If I have been quiet for a while it is because I was in the UK. I went to visit family and while I was there decided to check out the food scene. What a surprise! First I went to visit two farmers' markets; Nottinghill Gate and Marylebone. The latter was much the larger but what they all had in common was TRANSPARENCY. Every farmer was more than willing to talk to me and tell me all about the food that they raised or produced. Some had details written on chalk boards that were pinned to their stall. Just as in the U.S. most of the farmers' made 100% of their income from the markets combined with either their farm stall, box shemes or contracts with local restaurants. The latter was not used by a lot of farmers though. Finding slaughterhouses that would deal with small farmers was an issue both sides of the Atlantic.

The UK farmers said they had no problem with farm labor because of the recent addition of the East European countries into the EU. However the number of Eastern and Central European workers registering for work in the UK fell last year and is expecteed to fall further this year because of increased opportunities back home. too bad for UK farmers because these folks worked very hard for extremly low wages and kept the industry ticking. IF the US would have such a union with Mexico and Canada we would have no problems either, for the short term anyway, but we do. I wonder why the NAFTA agreement only included goods and not the movement of people!

The big difference however was that the food movement is much more intergrated than here in the Boston area (all I can talk about really). It goes from the farmers willingness to be transparent, to organizations such as the Soil Assocation, to journalists who write daily/weekly food columns supporting local food, to very outspoken chefs/cookbook authors, to restaurants and pubs printing on their menues where the food came from and two supermarkets who are actively supporting the movement (Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencers).

While I was at the markets I listened to customers interacting with producers and asking questions about the produce. However, never once did I hear customers saying the produce or meat was too expensive and that they could buy it cheaper in some supermarket; a refrain that I often hear at farmers' markets' in the Boston area. When I asked farmers' about this they said "customers are buying taste and they know this." In restaurants it was the same.

But what is actually the price difference? I visited Waitrose in the center of London (I have convered pounds to dollars and kilos to pounds).
- Not free range (which means they are kept in cages like most of our chickens) $3 per lb.
- Free range and corn fed - $5 per lb.
- Organic, free range from a specific named farm and certified by the Soil Assocation - $7.50 per lb.

Eggs were similarly priced although I forgot to look at the caged birds eggs.
- Columbian Black tail Hens,free range but not organic - $3 for six eggs
- as above but organic - $5 for six eggs.

It was obvious to me that this entire movement has been consumer driven. There were far more organic farmers in these markets then I see where I live BUT this was because there were many more meat, milk, and cheese vendors than at our markets in Massachusetts. Farmers' have to contain with rigid rules that means that eggs, cheese, meat and milk have to be kept in coolers.

It was wonderful to see printed at the top of most menues in pubs NO GM FOOD SERVED HERE. What a treat.

Some important labels (again completely transparent) were:
The Soil Association - is the main UK certification body for organic products. Its kitemark appears on 80 per cent of all organic products sold in the UK. Meat with this stamp means the animals have been outside for three-quarters of their life. Poultry must be in an environment where they can graze, ground-peck, and dust bath themselves. Very clar I must say.

Red Tractor - the Assured Food Standards labelling scheme that guarantees food has been produced, processed and packaged in the UK and complies with independent inspection standards regarding food safety, animal welfare, and responsible management of pesticides and waste.

Freedom Food - is a scheme run by the Royal Society for the PRevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to improve farm animal welfare. Their inspectors annualy check approved farms to see if they comply with their welfare standards. These include freedom from hunger, discomfort, pain and distress.
The first two were most apparent in the supermarkets. Since much of our meat is now coming from Asia and South America I only want to buy local meat so i found the Freedrom Food very good.

I will write more in detail later this week. Meanwhile check out some cookbooks whose writers are 100% behind the food movement.
Photo: Rose Prince

Rose Prince - The New English Kitchen, any Nigel Slater cookbook, British Reginonal Cooking by Mark Hix, any book by the late Jane Grigson but in particular English Food, Skye Gyngell's A Year in My Kitchen, and Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories to name just a few. And remember food out of a tin or a packet is not food at all and it definately is not cooking. I will include more later.

Saturday Morning Market - St. Petersburg, FL

Recently on a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida I was told about a greenmarket that was held in the town center every Saturday during the winter months. So off I went to check it out as I love fresh food and the camaraderie of farmers’ markets I paid it a visit. My first impression was::
- There were few produce vendors and even less local produce vendors
- It was not a farmers’ market
- It was very crowded, lively and fun
- There were tons of dogs of every description and size with their owners




Now this is my sort of market.

I completely forgot that I really came to buy food.

I walked around the market and came upon the market manager’s booth and introduced myself to Mark Johnson, who turned out to be one of the founders of the market. He spent some time with describing the goal of the market and how it came into being.


The market is not a farmers’ market per se. Its actual name is the Saturday Morning Market which is aptly named. Mark told me that from the beginning they knew they wanted the market to speak to the community, a place where people would feel connected and where creativity and friendships could be fostered.

The market opened in November 2002 with 10 vendors and by the end of their first season they had 45 vendors. They are able to keep the vendor fees low because there is only one paid employee while the three founders work for free; a 10x10 foot space costs $35 for the day. This year they had over 150 vendors for a 110 space market and so they rotate.

Produce and plant vendors account for 19% while the rest of the spaces are taken up by arts and crafts, prepared foods, value-added food vendors, and community organizations. In 2004, the market established a community kitchen to enable fledging vendors to meet health code requirements by cooking in a certified kitchen. All the products have to be grown, cooked or made by the vendor with the exception of environmental products or organizations such as Its Our Nature which sells organic products, the Sierra Club and the Pyrenees Rescue club, to name just a few. The craft vendors are all juried before they are accepted into the market.

Local farmers were very few even though they can try out the market for four Saturday’s at no charge, i.e. no risk to them. Small farmers are few in Florida but they do exist. Mark said that they do not understand the value of direct retail marketing. Also, they are reluctant to change their growing patterns and seem content to sell through the wholesalers in Tampa even though they could make more money at the market. Mark told me that he is trying to sell the concept of farmers’ markets to the farmers but it is difficult. He is trying to advertise in the Hillsborough County Agriculture Extension Agency’s newsletter.

I spoke to Linda from D.G. Diehl Farms

who was helping out her son; the owner of the farm. She told me that they have been selling their blueberries at the market since late 2005. They always sell everything they bring to the market. I asked Linda if her customers are price sensitive and she said “Yes, I have customers who will tell me that they can buy two cartons of blueberries from Argentina for $5 against her $4 for one carton.” Linda said that she always told them that “her blueberries are fuller, the carton is fuller, and they were picked yesterday, so that there was no comparison.”

Linda told me that they were not dependent on the market solely for their income because contracts with the cruise lines and the Ritz Carlton hotels. Their farm is in Ruskin, Florida where they own 100 acres of land.

The market has no problem from the shop vendors as the food related vendors have a stall at the Saturday market also.

When I visited the market it was extremely busy. People came to browse or buy and then stay awhile to sit and eat some food from the many food vendors and listen to music. One family – Leslie and Pamela Best and their two children Bethia and Bryoe relocated from Long Island, NY in June 2007 to Tampa and they visited the market every Saturday. Leslie said “we come to buy flowers, and food, and stuff for our new home, and then we buy the turkey legs from Mr. I Got em and sit here and listen to the music.”





The market operates from October through May from 9:00 – 2:00 pm every Saturday.

Greenmarket (CENYC) Union Sq

Food is nourishment for our soul, our body, and our mind that starts from the moment we pick or select our vegetables at the market, through to the rhythms of washing, dicing, cutting, kneading and sharing the end result of our labor. Food is life and it doesn’t come out of a box but from the earth. It is food that bonds us with our family and friends. It is for this reason that while I was in New York recently looking after my friends 2-year old twins I went in search of a farmers’ market. Once you have shopped at one you really don’t want to shop in a supermarket ever again.

Of course I knew about the Union Sq. Market but I wondered if there were others perhaps closer and so I called Greenmarket to find out. Much to my surprise I found that they managed 45 markets around the city and that there were 25 in Manhattan, three in the Bronx, five in Queens, 10 in Brooklyn and one on Staten Island.

The Council on the Environment of NYC (CENYC) is a hands-on non-profit that has been improving New York City's environment for over thirty years. CENYCs dedicated staff green our neighborhoods, create the environmental leaders of the future, promote waste prevention and recycling, and run the largest farmers market program in the country. These markets are a tremendous resource both to the citizens of New York as well as to the 200 or more so farmers ‘that come to the markets from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Each market has a market stand and manager(s) where they distribute literature, answer questions, cook up some vegetables for customers to taste. With the exception of Union Sq and Grand Army Plaza, the markets range in size from two to fifteen stands and there are between one and three immigrant farmers at some of the markets but not always at the same time. The busiest market is Union Sq. simply because of its location, its fame, and the number of restaurant chefs that shop there. The Grand Army Plaza market in Brooklyn is also as busy as Union Sq. if not as universally well known. You can start up a market independently of Greenmarket but if you do you miss out on their organization which is quit phenomenal. A couple of notable markets outside the system is Essex St. Market and Real Food Market.

In each of the markets I went to the friendliness of the vendors, market managers, shoppers and the store personnel were very friendly. The farmers’ at the markets ranged from ten-generation farms (quite a feat now a days) to new immigrant farmers who had been leasing their land for as little as two years. A big surprise to me, however was that only about 15-20% of the vendors were organic.

Management

Tying Greenmarket to the CENYC made them eligible to receive foundation funds. The Greenmarket Board members are comprised of Greenmarket staff/market managers, farmers, and concerned shoppers. They set the overall rules and regulations some of which are:
· The producer/farmer must be in attendance 25% of the time,
· Must grow all their produce themselves,
· It must be grown locally, and
· Staff at the stall must speak enough English to communicate with the customers.

Once a farmer has a spot with Greenmarket they keep it. An example is Hodgson Farms and Stokes Farms who have been with Greenmarkets since their inception 31 years ago. The only time a spot is vacated is when the farmer dies and there is no successor or when rules are broken and they are asked to leave. Even in the case of a divorce the couple split up the spot. Greenmarket will offer half of a 12ft frontage space for $30. While this makes it difficult for new farmers to get a spot, it is not impossible, as we will see shortly. For a farmer to obtain a spot at the Greenmarkets they must complete an application, meet the criteria mentioned above, pass an inspection, and await a space; it is as simple as that!

When Greenmarket first started operating they had problems with farmers’ buying their produce at the wholesalers in the City and reselling it at the market. Today Greenmarket has a paid farm inspector who visits the farms on a regular basis and checks that what the farmer is selling is what he is growing producing. The Greenmarket managers check the quantity and type of produce being sold at the beginning and at the end of the day. This is particular important with eggs where we hear the terms: cage free, free range, pasture and a myriad of other words to deceive the customer.

Greenmarket selects market spots based on heavy foot traffic, room for trucks to park, and community support and over half the markets are open year round. They promote the markets through advertising in local neighborhood newspapers. They also educate the consumers through tours of the market September through November, through the literature they distribute at the markets, and through their website.

They purchase a blanket insurance policy for themselves but each farmer must purchase their own policy through the New York Farmers Market Federation.

At the end of the day all unsold produce is bagged up and put on City Harvest vans by their volunteers under the supervision of the market manager(s). Last year Union Sq. Market sent 275,000 pounds of food to City Harvest. This is a significant contribution as food in the food banks in NYC has dropped by 40% due in one reason to the Farm Bill stalled in the Senate.

Greenmarket is pretty much self-funded with an operating budget upwards of $1.5 million. Farmers’ fees come close to meeting the entire amount and Union Sq. market’s income is in excess of $700,000. This money is used to manage the entire market operation; which includes dealing with nine different city agencies for the many permits that are required, marketing activities, insurance, and new initiatives such as the New Farmer Development Project (NFDP), and staff salaries. For example Union Sq. market has eight market managers.

The NFDP project was created in 2000 as a partnership between Greenmarket and the Cornell Cooperative Extension's NYC Program. The project is based in New York City and supports new farmers within the city, New York's Hudson Valley & Catskill Regions, New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. The NFDP identifies, educates, and supports immigrants with agricultural experience by helping them become local farmers and establish small farms in the region. Their focus at the moment is on farmers’ from Latin American.

In 2002, Nestor Tello from Mexico and Hector Tejada from the Dominican Republic were the first two farmers to come through the program and start selling at the Greenmarkets. By 2007, the project had assisted 17 immigrant farmers’. Because of the cost of insurance the farmers are covered under the NFDP.

The market is continually evolving as funds become available. Recently they received a special grant from the city to enable them to handle the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program. They have also just received funding from the Manhattan Borough President’s Office for the purchase of a bio-diesel step-van for operations. This new van will afford Market Managers more space to store hardware such as tents and tables, cooking demonstration equipment as well as an array of supporting literature, books, merchandise and Program information.

Greenmarket has also applied for a grant from Farm Aid to bolster the education component of the Union Square Greenmarket. Currently, Union Square plays host to over 100 public and private schools each year who receive Market Tours and learn about the value of a local food system. They have also applied for a grant to initiate audio/visual programming at markets to highlight and illuminate some of the issues, challenges and successes particular to the program. If successful, Greenmarket will write, shoot and produce four, twenty-eight minute programs that will air on Manhattan Neighborhood Network Television and the Council on the Environment’s website.

Farmers and local markets
Each farmer pays between $57-60 for a 12ft frontage space although it is possible to rent half a spot. The Union Sq. market on Saturday’s costs a little more at $70 a spot. A vendor can have multiple spots based on availability and seniority. For example if a farmer started in the 80s, with 3 spots he can keep these for as long as he wants them.

The local market manager is in charge of logistics such as parking, vendor/ customer issues and questions. Occasionally an issue might come up where one farmer wants to sell another farmer’s egg and there is already an egg vendor at the market. In this case the market manager has the prerogative to say no. This only applies to the smaller markets. Union Sq. market has multiple vendors selling the same type of produce. Union Sq. Market being in the center of the city has a few unique problems such as homeliness, drugs, alcohol etc. that do impact the market. The market manger plays a significant role as he/she is the link to the farmer, the customer, and the community. It is through them that many ideas originate and who form relationships that can ultimate lead to funding for new initiatives. In the Union Sq. market the manager has been their five years while at the two I visited in Brooklyn the manager has been there one year.

The biggest headache for the farmers’ is getting into the city and parking. They get up very early, around 4:00 pm to pick their vegetables or fruit, get them loaded onto the truck(s), and ride into the city. Sometimes they can get into an accident and lose their entire load. Most farmers have set up their stalls by 5:45 am and in some areas people are coming by to shop at 6:00 a.m. The police have helped the situation by putting up Do Not Park signs right by the place that the farmers’ would be setting up their stalls. But again in the Union Sq. area cars will have parked there over night and have to be towed away by the market manager.

While Union Sq. Market is a huge and successful market there are farmers’ who prefer not to go there. The reasons can be many such as the competitiveness, they prefer the clientele at the smaller markets, there is much less hassle at the smaller markets, and there is not as much politics/friction as at Union Sq. Market.

The farms vary in acreage from one to 650 acres with 250 acres leased rather than owned. Some of the farmers’ rely entirely on the markets for their income, some have CSAs’ and some are thinking of starting one. For the immigrant farmers however, only 25% are full-time farmers while the rest have winter jobs. The non-immigrant farmers make about 70-100% of their income from the farmers’ market and the rest through selling directly to restaurants and CSAs. Almost all the farmers’ attend more than one market around the city and they told me that what customers buy varies based on the location of the market. For example one immigrant farmer told me that at Colombia University his customers buy mostly greens from him.

When I asked the farmers who ran the markets and made the rules, they said they did not know and then half of them proceeded to tell me who did. In the end it was only the new farmers to Greenmarket that did not seem to know. The majority of the farmers are at one the many markets run by Greenmarket 2-4 times a week. This is about the limit they can do based on logistics and it makes for some very long days indeed.

FARMER PROFILES


Cato Corner Farm, Colchester, CT
They are popular for the raw milk hormone free cheeses. They did not get licensed to produce cheese until 1997 and have been selling at the market since 1999. They told me that the market provides them with 70% of their income. They have just starting selling from the farm on Saturday’s and are looking into build a new space to sell their cheese and other local produce too. Apart from the market sales they also sell directly to restaurants and some specialty shops and wholesale through Artisan Made – Northeast LLC. They have no distributor.

Evolutionary Organic Farms

Kira has been growing and selling in Greenmarket for 12 years. She got a spot at the market the very first year she applied. She derives 90% of her income from the Greenmarkets and the other 10% from a small CSA at her farm. She told me that she “hasn’t seen a change in what customers want but rather a change in what they are willing to try”. Kira grows vegetables that she likes such as raddichio, asian greens, and different varieties of summer and winter squashes. For many years she said “I brought these vegetables to the market only to put them back on the van to take home again. Now I find that customers are trying them and finding that they like them even though they don’t look like they expect”.

Kira does not set a premium price for her organically grown produce. Her prices based on the work they put into a crop and by what she would be willing to pay for an item if she was a market shopper. She says that n the markets where she goes there are a lot of conventional growers and organic growers getting the same prices, and she has even seen conventional growers with higher prices, especially in heirloom tomatoes. She has never had a problem getting the price she asks for her produce.

Lynnhaven Goat Farm, Pine Bush, New York

She has been with the Saturday market for two years and the Wednesday market for seven months. Lynn told me “that she did not think that she would get a spot before she died” but luck was on her side when Coach Farms Gold Creamery sold their creamery to a big company. This made them ineligible to stay in the market and she was given their spot. She told me that Coach Farms had over 600 goats and they took in milk from two other farmers; while her operation is tiny in comparison; 70 goats. She told me that “the market had made a huge difference in her life and that the income she makes at the market supports herself, her son, and her 70 goats”. Since she has been at the market she has contracted with local chefs who come to the market and pick up the cheese. She is 100% dependent upon the market income.

Pafftenroth Gardens, Warwick, New York

They have been at the market for 18 years. They grow their produce traditionally and are perhaps the most highly rated produce farmer at the market. They have been listed in Zagats for the past five years whose participants rated the vegetables as “superior root vegetables” and “fabulous.” He has been praised by the likes of Alice Waters, and pursued by local celebrity chefs. Alex told me that his produce is the least expensive in the market and of the highest quality. He grows difference produce, and new things that the customer has not seen before. He has signs up on most of his vegetables telling customers’ what it is and what to do with it. When he comes to the markets on Wednesday and Saturday he starts his day at 3:15 a.m. when he raises and gets home at 8:30 pm. He gets 100% of his income from the market. He is a very friendly farmer indeed.

Stokes Farms. Old Tappan, New Jersey

They have been with the market for 31 years. They have a farm stand too and 17 greenhouses where they grow flowers and herbs. They told me that the flowers and herbs out of six of the greenhouses come to the Union Sq. market. They are known for the excellent fresh produce and their big beautiful herb plants. They also have a nice mix of heirloom tomatoes. The major changes that they have seen in their 31 years at the market are that customers are much more aware of local produce and what it means then when they first started. They said that quality seemed to be the first issue with customers and then price.

Tellos Green Farm, Red Hook, New York




They have been at the market six years. Nestor Tello and his wife Alejandra raise 4,000 chickens on four acres of pasture. Being the skeptical person I am I asked Nestor if they really went out side. He told me “Yes, they do. At noon I go and let them out of their barn and at dusk they all come back again. If you don’t believe me you can ask the farm manager because we are inspected.” I asked him what he fed them and he said “the eat what they can outside and then I also give them corn.”

He started at the Union Sq. Market where he met chefs who were coming to the markets to buy produce for their restaurants. Then, as chefs or other restaurant staff members moved to new restaurants or started their own restaurants, he maintained the connection and was able to develop new buyers through his old relationships. As the chefs changed restaurants they made arrangements for him to deliver to their restaurants. These restaurants pay $3.00 a dozen for his eggs which is a premium price for buying in bulk. At the market he sells his large eggs for $3.25. Nestor also has a CSA in the Brooklyn market and either he or his wife is at one of ten markets during the week. Nestor’s plans are for a totally biodynamic farm. For those who really want to know the majority of his hens are Rhode Island Reds but he also has Araucana.

It was just by chance that during the week I stopped into an organic restaurant in SOHO for lunch and the waitress told me that their egg dishes were very popular and that a farmer delivered eggs to them weekly along with honey. It turned out that this farmer was Nestor.

The most repeated question I heard from customers while I was talking to market managers in the smaller markets was “how do the prices compare.” Compare to what I thought! The market managers merely said that there were a variety of prices and they should shop around but they would not be the same as from somewhere that could buy in bulk. I thought this was a lost golden opportunity to educate the customer on food economics. However, I did find out later at the Union Sq. market that prices for produce vary wildly so the response was perhaps appropriate. According to the market managers price was the most often asked question and it came from people at all socioeconomic levels. They said that most of their customers were either middle class or those using WIC food coupons. They felt the WIC program was a wonderful situation for both the customer and the farmer. The farmers; I talked to all said that they had seen a surge in requests for organic produce and I noticed that when customers were told that there were farmers who had organic produce the question of price seemed to disappear in their eyes and body language.

Conclusion
Since Greenmarkets inception in 1976 they have managed to save many small farmers from going under. These farmers’ had tried many different methods to move their produce where they lived without success. Once they came to a NYC market they found that their produce flew off the stalls.

Shortly after this article was ready for the publisher I was directed to read the 2008 Zagats Shopping and Entertainment Guide for NYC. Many of the farmers I profiled above were listed with a rating of 27-29 out of 30 which translates as excellent in all fields. They were Cato Farms, Paffenroth, Ronnybrook, Stokes Farm, Gorzenski Ornery Farm, and Migliorelli Farms.

My comments about customers appearing willing to pay for organic food was borne out by the introduction which said that out of the 6,807 customers who participated in their survey over half said they were willing to pay more for organic, locally produced or from sustainable sources. There is definitely at opportunity for more farmers to move toward organic at the Union Sq. market where so much produce is sold. For the smaller markets however, it may be too expensive for the farmer. There is also the fickleness of shoppers who already are leaning towards local or organic/local. If the localvore wins than it will not be worth the bureaucratic cost to get certified as organic as customers will know how their farmers grow their produce.

to be published in Farmers Market Today
http://www.scissortailproductionsllc.com