Closing Bell: Malcom X Farmers Market on the Ropes
So much for that momentum we wrote about a couple of weeks ago! Weak community support is threatening the viability of the new Malcom X Farmers Market within the first month of its life, according to an email being circulated from the one of the market’s organizers. The main fresh food vendor, Migliorelli Farms, just…
So much for that momentum we wrote about a couple of weeks ago! Weak community support is threatening the viability of the new Malcom X Farmers Market within the first month of its life, according to an email being circulated from the one of the market’s organizers. The main fresh food vendor, Migliorelli Farms, just announced it’s bailing on the new scene because it’s been unable to cover its labor and gas expenses to date. The problem? Not enough people are coming to the market. This is particularly distressing given how much attention is given by the press and politicians about the desperate (and very real) need for fresh food in some of our poorer communities. (The fresh food argument has been the primary rationale given by the proponents of tearing down Admirals Row to build a supermarket to serve the surrounding housing projects.) Bottom line: If you care about preserving this incredible amenity in the neighborhood, you better vote with your feet and your wallet on Saturday. Otherwise, to paraphrase the organizer’s email, you’ll be proving the haters wrong who said Bed Stuy couldn’t support a farmers market. Don’t let that happen. The Malcom X Farmers Market is held on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. in front of Jackie Robinson Park on Malcom X Boulevard between Marion and Chauncey Streets
Come Support the Malcolm X Community Market!!! [Bed Stuy Blog]
Photo by Ultraclay
Among the supermarket on Marcus Garvey, the independents on Fulton and the Super Foodtown on Fulton there is no lack of fresh produce. Towards this end of Bed Stuy and further east it is a problem.
There would be more were it not for the fact that essentially there is no retail spave avilable on Fulton between Marcus garvey and a block east of Malcolm X. not sure why there isn’t one on Malcolm X but then there’s also a grocery store ( not great) further up around hancock or so.
I stopped by the market week before last. I had my canvass shopping bag in hand and was all set to buy a bunch of produce. I got there and expected to see a market, perhaps a smaller version of Fort Greene or Prospect Park, but when I arrived at about 10 AM, there was a lone vendor there with a small selection of veggies. I asked about what he had and he seemed to blow me off. So guess what? I blew him off and took the 8 min train ride to Fort Greene and went shopping.
This is just one man’s experience and it may not be representation of everyone’s experience. However, I would wager the reason they failed were two fold:
1. Lack of participation due to very low awareness in the community.
2. Limited supply of produce – why waste time here for the sake of “supporting the farmers” if the “farmers” don’t have enough “farm” goods. A trip to Foodtown on Fulton or a call to Fresh Direct (YES Fresh Direct does deliver over here) seems to be WAY more efficient.
I don’t mean to sound overly negative, but my humble opinion is that they reason this didn’t work is because it seemed to patronize the folks in this neighborhood rather than supply them with a meaningful produce addition. My goodness, the random fruit markets and bodegas on Fulton have way more selection than what was present the weekend before last.
if my comment came across as racist, that wasnt my intentional. seriously. 🙁
*rob*
dibs, the stuff the carts sell is not local, tho. It’s the same stuff everyone buys up at Hunts Point. But, paying no rent, and of course not being unionized, lol, they can sell it cheaper.
There are at least two small stores selling fresh vegetables and fruits on Kingston Ave. in Crown Heights – one between St. John’s and Lincoln Place, and another between Dean and Bergen. Each are pretty good.
fgp, I’d have to agree that they are expensive. But if you shop carefully you can do ok. I remember back in the day when the farmer’s markets first started, not only were they fresh, they were cheaper than supermarkets. Boy did they learn fast.
I went the weekend before last and the prices at Migliorelli, essentially the only vendor at 9:00, were rather high, especially for the neighborhood.
Wherever I see a cart vendor in Manhattan, usually outside a large grocery store, the prices are very cheap. For example, I usually see two pints of blueberries for $3.00 and I believe the blueberries at the bed Stuy market were at least $3.00 per pint if not more.
If everything they were selling was “organic” then that’s why the prices were too high.
Knick, I’d say slick pulled it off. Rob, not so much.
aren’t farmer’s markets generally expensive? like basically whole foods expensive?