In record-setting 104-degree heat, they came by the thousands, an estimated 60,000 by day”™s end. They poured from subways and from around corniced corners, badged with perspiration, mopping brows and, to a person, not to be denied their farm-fresh food.
Whatever chore New Yorkers might forgo on the hottest day of the recent heat wave, missing out on the bounty of the region”™s farms was not among them. The hellish weather was no match for the musk of Millerton-based McEnroe Organic Farm”™s tomatoes, sliced and succulent to sample on a plate. Jacob Mooney, Jennifer Lobsenz and Beth Bainbridge fed McEnroe”™s vegetable supply chain from the Hudson Valley to dinner at 8 in Manhattan with smiles and perspiration; the business was brisk if the air was not.
“The feedback we get is that people really enjoy our products,” Mooney, who works the land in Dutchess and the nonprofit GrowNYC-run Greenmarkets Farmers Market in Union Square, said. “We have samples and when they taste it, we hear, ”˜Wow, this is a really great tomato.”™”
Proving the point, Mooney had just sold sacks of tomatoes to decidedly upscale eateries Aureole New York (so-called “first tomatoes” for use in salads and such) and Fat Radish (“second tomatoes” for use in sauces). As the hustling Mooney, Bainbridge and Lobsenz could attest, consumers already know what the chefs at Aureole and Fat Radish know: “We”™re organic and the flavor can”™t be beat,” he said. “And because we grow in greenhouses, we”™re able to offer fresh tomatoes months earlier.”
McEnroe raises meat on its 700 acres, but only vegetables and enriched soil (by the bag by special order) make it to market in New York City.
Elegant and cool as an organic cucumber in the hair-dryer heat, Manhattanite Noriko Sekiguchi had come to the Hammond Dairy stand allegedly out of altruism. “My husband loves it,” she said and then aligned herself with his tastes. “It”™s very, very good. I buy it every week. I just bought a quart.”
Sarah Hammond Rizzo was handling retail duties for her veterinarian/farmer brother, David Hammond, whose Dutchess County-based Hammond Dairy has been making whole milk yogurt for four years. “It”™s not homogenized and people love it,” she said.
The Union Square Market is 35 years old and the city”™s flagship outdoor market. Several regional farms ”“ Hoeffner Farms in Orange County; Locust Grove Farms in Ulster County; S & SO Produce Farms in Orange County; and Windy Maples Farm in Orange County ”“ were among the first to set up shop in Union Square in 1976.
There are now 66 markets in all five boroughs, with 58 of the total 140 farms and artisan food purveyors from the lower five Hudson Valley counties ”“ such as Ulster County-based Bread Alone. “We”™re three days a week here, and seven days a week at other markets,” said Lobsang Ngaywang, who drives the Bread Alone truck and is a salesman. He was assisted by Laura Kazdan and together they endured one of the tougher retail shops since bread has no need for ice.
The “Flying Dutchman” market world ”“ if it”™s Sunday this must be Tompkins Square ”“ also holds true for Aoife Ni Fhlannchadha and Carmel Desmond, two Irish nationals who live in New York City and who work a market circuit for Finger Lakes-based Red Jacket Orchards. They travel from uptown”™s Fort Washington Market to downtown”™s Financial District Market with additional stops at Bowling Green, Abingdon Square and Union Square. “Business is great,” Desmond said. “They are natural juices with no water or sugar added and how fast we sell them is insane.”
The markets are a world away from the 88 acres of Keith”™s Farm in Orange County. Co-principal Flavia Bacarella paraphrased her husband, Keith Stewart: “He says he could never be a farmer without an outlet like the Greenmarkets,” she said. “The customer base is huge. You go with a full truck and come back with empty crates.”
Keith”™s has been going to Union Square for 25 years and now sets up shop three days a week, including the coveted (busiest) Saturday market. The farm does not produce value-added products. Bacarella said, “That”™s a whole other area, with health department approvals. I have my art” ”“ she is chairwoman of the art department at Lehman College in New York City and an associate professor of art there, as well ”“ “and we have enough to do. They just brought in garlic this morning and everyone is soaking wet.” Garlic is a Keith”™s specialty, occupying a full acre of the farms 12 cultivated acres of vegetables (of 88 total acres).
Among the markets”™ allure, according to Bacarella: Keith Stewart himself. “Keith has a very loyal following,” she said. “A lot of people want to know who their farmer is. We”™ve had people coming to us for 18 years in a row.” Among those loyal customers several years ago was a publisher who first liked their produce and then liked Stewart”™s essays on agriculture. The upshot is just out in its second edition: “It”™s a Long Road to a Tomato,” with woodcuts by Bacarella (The Experiment Publishing Co.).
Dalia Wallach, a holistic health coach, who was shopping for vegetables said the farm friendliness does not end at the market. “I come every week,” she said. “The quality, the taste and the experience of shopping ”¦ it”™s like you”™re in your own garden. And the positive feeling carries over to the meal; it”™s truly amazing.”
Jacob Mooney is my nephew. I am so proud of his contribution to this market and his education. You rock Jake! Love Aunt kate.