Produce market coming to Marble Hill

By N. Clark Judd

One corner in Marble Hill might smell an awful lot like corn this summer.

Tomatoes, apples, and other fruits and vegetables too.

That’s because once a week, from July through October, teens from Marble Hill and the rest of the Riverdale/ Kingsbridge area will be selling fresh produce from farms in the region as part of a new Youthmarket program.

The farm stand will be on the corner of Broadway and West 225th Street in Marble Hill from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and will run through Oct. 29, said Daniel Strecker, operations coordinator at Youthmarket’s parent program, Greenmarket.

Both programs are projects of the Council on the Environment of New York City. The Greenmarket program organizes farmers’ markets throughout the city.

Riverdale Neighborhood House, which already hosts a Youthmarket at its Mosholu Avenue site, will partner with CENYC on the Marble Hill location as well.

“We source produce from farmers depending on who’s in the city on a given day,” explained Mr. Strecker,

The farmers are generally within 200 miles of New York City, he said, and the produce is either picked up directly from the farmer or at a wholesale market in Hunts Point.

“It’s kids from the community … they’re paid, and they’re learning about the issues that surround local food as well, so it’s not just a job,” Mr. Strecker said. “It’s a learning experience. They learn about nutrition and food systems.”

Community Board 8 economic development committee chairman Robert Fanuzzi announced the Youthmarket at a May 12 board meeting. The announcement comes after months of planning, led by Mr. Fanuzzi, for a way to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to a neighborhood so bereft of access to quality greens that he described it as a “food desert.”

This is part of the May 21, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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