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July 27, 2005
Fresh Food at Rock Center
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Although it seems counter-intuitive, there is no reason not to "eat local" if you live in New York City, especially if you call Manhattan home. Consider, there are 47 greenmarkets in the city, 21 of them in Manhattan. The Council on the Environment of New York City's Greenmarket Program, which has been operating since 1976, ensures that all the food sold in the markets is indeed grown regionally by actual farmers. This means that this week there is almost nowhere in Manhattan, be it ever so urban, where you can't buy fresh-picked corn or delicious, tree-ripened peaches.
The most extreme example of this admirable urban/rural dialectic has got to be at Rockefeller Center. Three days a week in July and August, farmers set up in the Plaza behind the skating rink. This week the market features the most stunning selection of berries: blueberries, raspberries and lots and lots of gooseberries (we were reaching for our cookbooks to see what we could make with them). There are also piles of the sweetest corn and lots of peaches and plums. In the people-watching department, it's amusing to observe tourists watching men in suits and clutching briefcases, earnestly choosing tonight's vegetable or dessert.
The greenmarket at Rockefeller Center is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8-6.
For a complete listing and map of New York Greenmarkets go to the Council on the Environment of New York
Posted by gardenguidenyc at July 27, 2005 02:21 PM