Greenmarket Tips for Beginners Bleecker January 5, 2015 Daily, Essential Guides, Featured, NYC Experiences Greenmarket Tips: 6 Things to know before you head out with your reusable shopping bags. 1) The first of the Greenmarket Tips is to leave the list at home. Go with your gut if you see something that looks good, buy it. With your smart phone you can even look up a recipe right there at the market and some markets will even be doing recipe demonstrations. 2) Look online. You don’t just have to go to the Union Square Market to get local produce. There are 50 greenmarkets throughout NYC! Check online for which market is closest to you and what vendors will be there. Here is the best place to start your online search Grow NYC – Greenmarket Farmers Markets 3) It’s not all USDA Organic Certified. A largely unknown fact is that not all farms and vendors, at farmers markets, are certified organic. Each farmer at the market is interested in the health of their family, their land and their product. Ask the vendor about their methods in farming produce or raising animals so you can make an informed decision. Vendors at the market can not sell genetically modified or irradiated produce. 4) The fourth of our Greenmarket Tips is to look around before you buy. Different than when you go shopping at a supermarket, you ‘ll want to pop into all the stands before you settle on what you are going to buy, especially if you are on a budget. The farmers all set their prices individually and some of the same products will be priced differently, ask them and find out why. 5) If you don’t know what something is, ask! It may sounds silly but it is okay to not know what a certain product is. Many farmers grow heirloom or rare varieties of produce that will look different than what you’ll find in a supermarket. The person working the stand probably helped to raise it and they will be excited to talk to you about their product and maybe even suggest recipes for you! 6) At many Greenmarkets you can use credit/debit cards, EBT and FMNP coupons! In fact for every $5.00 you spend using EBT you get $2.00 in Health Bucks, which you can use to buy fresh produce. Look on the Grow NYC website to see which markets accept these forms of payment. Hopefully our Greenmarket Tips will take the mystery out of the Greenmarkets and help you feel more comfortable heading out to one. Stay tuned for follow up features on other exciting happenings at your local farmers markets. There might even be an Eat Up New York trip to visit one of the local farms and get down in the dirt for the inside scoop. And don’t forget to reach out and let us know if you have any questions or want us to explore something for you.
