GrowNYC's 2017 Annual Report

February 15, 2018

We're proud to announce that our 2017 Annual Report is here

Highlights from 2017 include:

  • We renovated more than 30 community gardens throughout the year, and built our 100th new garden!
  • We launched Compost on the Go, 18 new food scrap collection sites conveniently located near mass transit in uptown Manhattan and the Bronx.
  • We gave mini-grants of $500-2,000 to 78 schools to build or expand their school gardens, and hosted 12 giveaways of seeds, plants, and tools.
  • FARMroots' Beginning Farmer Program helped start six new farm businesses, and graduated 21 participants from its Farm Beginnings training course.
  • Recycling Champions engaged in waste reduction education and outreach at 97 schools, engaging 50,000 students and faculty at more than 2,000 events.

And there's so much more! Read the report to see all we've done in the past year, and make sure to share with friends!

Greenmarket Home Bakers Meet-up

February 6, 2018

Home Bakers Meet-up
Monday, February 24th 
Project Farmhouse, 76 East 13th Street (Manhattan)
Tickets $20

Break bread with GrowNYC Grains and your fellow home bakers! Bakers of all experience levels are welcome to swap samples with fellow grain geeks and share secrets on how to get a really crusty crust. Some of New York City's best professional bakers, including Austin Hall of She Wolf Bakery, Sharon Burns-Leader of Bread Alone Bakery, and Peter Endriss of Runner & Stone will also be on hand to talk tips and techniques.

Bring a loaf of your favorite home baked bread, made with locally-grown grains and flours, and copies of your recipe and/or starter to trade with others. 

Tickets include event entry and one drink.

Purchase grains and flours from the GrowNYC Grainstand at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and other locations listed here.

THANK YOU to our sponsors Meyers USAToast AleMockmill, and Maine Grains.

All proceeds benefit the Greenmarket Regional Grains Project. 

Greenmarket Winter Warrior 'Fly Somewhere Warm' Contest

February 1, 2018



You know who you are Winter Warriors -- it's 20 degrees outside and you're piling on the layers, getting Fido into his doggie-sweater, and grabbing the frozen compost -- all in preparation for your farmers market trip. We want to reward you for your Greenmarket love and loyalty with a chance to win two travel certificates, good for the base fare of two roundtrip JetBlue flights (excluding taxes/fees)!

Sweepstakes Rules: 

  • Visit any one of the 24 Year-Round Greenmarket Farmers Markets during open market hours between February 15 – 28, 2018
     
  • Take a photo and post it to your Instagram account with the hashtag #GMKTWinterWarrior and #contest. Limit one entry per Instagram account per day.
     
  • Photos can be selfies, or they can be shots of vegetables, farmers (with their permission), any kind of wintry Greenmarket cheer. As long as the photo is taken inside any one of the 24 Year-Round Greenmarket Farmers Markets during open market hours and posted to Instagram with the hashtag #GMTKWinterWarrior, it is a chance to win!  
     
  • On March 1st  2018, GrowNYC will pick one lucky winner to receive two travel certificates, good for the base fare of two roundtrip JetBlue flights (excluding taxes/fees)! These vouchers must be used by June 15, 2018. It’s a fast turnaround, but there’s enough time to get somewhere warm.
     
  • GrowNYC and Greenmarket staff, volunteers, farm staff, or farmers, or family members are not eligible to win.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the U.S., DC & PR, 18 years and older. Contest ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on 2/28/18. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules for details.

Fighting Food and Clothing Waste - 15 Million Pounds and Counting!

December 15, 2017

15 Million Lbs 2017

(click photo to view slideshow)

As the curtain closes on 2017, we mark TWO milestones for GrowNYC’s zero waste programs.   We are thrilled to announce; thanks to YOU we have collected more than 10 million pounds of food scraps at our Greenmarkets!

There’s more! YOU have helped keep 5 million pounds of clothing and textiles from going to landfills by dropping them at collection sites hosted by GrowNYC. 

Thanks to your participation that’s 7,500 tons of material repurposed to build soil, create renewable energy, or live a second life as usable clothing, rags, or recycled fiber products!   

What started as 6 Greenmarkets in 2011 has grown to 42 food scrap drop-off locations at GrowNYC’s Greenmarkets, Youthmarkets, and Fresh Food Box sites throughout the City! Not to mention the 18 new Compost On-The-Go locations near mass transit in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx.  Hats off to you and your fellow dedicated New Yorkers who save, store, and transport their scraps each week. 

New Yorkers are equally dedicated to style, and demand for clothing collections continues.  What began as “Material Mondays” at Union Square Greenmarket is now a network of 27 markets accepting clothing each week through our partner, Wearable Collections.  Every shirt, suit, and pair of shoes collected helps chip away at the 193,000 tons of textile waste New Yorkers send to landfill each year – 5 MILLION POUNDS AND COUNTING!

Food scraps and textiles comprise nearly one-quarter of NYC’s residential discards.  Thanks to you, these efforts are one successful component of getting NYC to zero waste.     

Find a clothing collection or food scrap drop-off near you. 

--

GrowNYC’s zero waste programs are funded by the NYC Department of Sanitation.

Greenmarket Holiday Gift Guide

December 5, 2017
Posted in Greenmarket

Holiday gift shopping for the Greenmarket lover is made easy with this list of popular holiday gifts from Greenmarket producers. Please note, not all of these items are sold at every market location so check the producer line-up to see what products are available at your local Greenmarket.

NON-FOOD ITEMS
Greenmarket Merch: Tote bags, reusable produce bags, baby bibs, tea towels, bamboo spatulas, Short Stack cookbooks, note cards, and mugs at Union Square Greenmarket Merch Tent  
Greenmarket Tokens: Wooden tokens can be purchased in $5 increments at the information tent at any Greenmarket using a credit or debit card. Tokens can be used like money at most vendors. Out of town but want to purchase tokens for family and friends living in New York? Call our office at 212.788.7900 and ask about purchasing tokens. 
The New Greenmarket Cookbook: Available for sale at Union Square Greenmarket and various other markets, as well as on www.grownyc.org/cookbook.
Greenmarket Producer Cookbooks: The Fishermen's Wife by Stephanie Villani; The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook; Bread Alone Cookbook
Soaps 
Sachets, Salves, Lip Balms, Lotions, and Body Oils
Yarn, Hats, Scarves from Catskill Merino and Rosehaven Alpaca
Herbal Tinctures, Teas, and Tisanes from Violet Hill Farm, Furnace Creek Farm, White Pine Community Farm, Tweefontein Herb Farm 
Wreaths
Decorative Garlic Braids from Keith’s Farm
Poinsettias, Paper Whites, and Orchids
Succulent & Cactus plants

FOOD GIFTS

Jams and Preserves
Hard Cider
Beer and Spirits from GrowNYC's Craft Beverage Pop-up
Honey 
Wine
Jerky and "Meat Lovers" Cured Meat Pack from Lowland Farm
Cookies, Pies and Baked Goods
Maple Syrup, Maple Cotton Candy & Maple Candies
Popcorn from Wildraft Farm and Oak Grove Plantation
The Bronx Hot Sauce Gift Box from GrowNYC
Chicken Liver Bourbon Pâté from Yellow Bell Farms 
Soppressata and Cured Chorizo from Flying Pigs Farm
Duck Salami and Prosciutto from Hudson Valley Duck Farm
Egg Nog from Ronnybrook Farm and Ole Mother Hubbert 
Gluten Free Babka from Las Delicias
Spirits: Gin, Corn Whiskey, Vodka, Unaged Single Malt Whiskey from Orange County Distillery, 1857 Spirits and Hickory Ledges
Bison Jerky from Roaming Acres
Beer from From the Ground Brewery, including Pale Ale, Stout and Red Ale
Bitters from Violet Hill Farm
Dried & Smoked Chiles from Eckerton Hill and Oak Grove Plantation 

Deck the Halls - Christmas Trees + Holiday Wreaths at Greenmarkets

November 28, 2017
Posted in Greenmarket

Your locally grown Christmas trees, wreaths, and boughs will stay fresher longer and smell amazing. A list of markets where you can stock up on holiday greens follows:

Durr Wholesale: Wreaths (Union Square Saturday) 
Fiori Di Fenice: Wreaths (Union Square Saturday) 
Hurds Family Farm: Trees (Grand Army Plaza Saturday)
Keith's Farm: Organic trees and wreaths (Union Square Wednesday and Saturday)
Lebak Farms: Wreaths (Grand Army Plaza Saturday)
Mountain Sweet Berry Farm: Wreaths, garland, and princess pines (Union Square Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday)
Rexcroft Farm: Wreaths (Dag Hammarskjold, Wednesday; Fort Greene Saturday) 
River Garden: Dried flower wreaths (Union Square Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday)
Stokes Farm: Herb wreaths (Tucker Square Thursday and Saturday; Union Square Saturday)
Van Houten Farms: Trees and wreaths (Union Square Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday)
Wilklow Orchards: Trees (Ft. Greene Saturday)

GrowNYC International Harvest Dinner

November 20, 2017
Posted in Greenmarket

Earlier this month, GrowNYC held the second in our Chef Seasonal Dinner Series.

It was magnificent!

Five leading chefs from some of NYC’s most prominent restaurants donated their time and incredible culinary skills to create an unforgettable meal.

The theme of the dinner was International Harvest. Chef Ron Roselli of Bowery Road kicked things off with passed hors d’oeurves, including Fried Mushroom with a Citrus Aioli and Calabrian Chili, as well as Sicilian Cauliflower with Pine Nuts and a Chili Garlic Vinaigrette, which were followed by Sacco Chicken Stew with Bitter Orange and Dominican Root Vegetables prepared by Chef Charles Rodriguez of Print.  The second course, prepared by Iceland native Chef Gunnar Gíslason of Agern, consisted of Honeynut Squash with Sea Buckthorn, Honey and Brown Butter.  Next was Octopus with Salsa Veracruzana and Blue Eye Potatoes created by Chef Daniela Soto-Innes of Cosme, inspired by the cooking of Chef Sotto-Innes’s home country, Mexico.  And finally, for dessert, Chef Miro Uskokovic from Gramercy Tavern reimagined an Apple “Lazy” Pie with Baklava Ice Cream and Cranberry from his childhood in Serbia. And because two desserts are better than one, he made Serbian-inspired Truffles with Slivovitz and Cacao Prieto.

Magnificent. (It must be said again.)

This year marks the 18th anniversary of GrowNYC's New Farmer Development Program which provides assistance and opportunity for immigrants with backgrounds in agriculture looking to continue a career in farming in the Northeast. To celebrate, participants of that program, Sergio and Paz Nolasco of Nolasco Farms, gave a short speech about what Greenmarket means to their business.  

All the proceeds from the event allow Greenmarket to use Project Farmhouse throughout the year as an educational space for youth programming, panel discussions, film screenings, and networking events focused on a just and sustainable local food system.  We’re deeply grateful to all of the participating chefs, as well as Bread Alone, Breuckelen Distilling, Brooklyn Brewery, Great Performances, Lauber Imports, Library of Distilled Spirits, Omni New York LLC, and Union Square Wines for their help and support for our International Harvest Dinner. Photography by Vitaliy Piltser.

Looking forward to the next one!

Project Farmhouse International Harvest Dinner

 

June Russell Honored as Slow Food NYC's 2017 Snailblazer

October 17, 2017
Posted in Greenmarket

On Wednesday, November 8th, Slow Food NYC will host its annual big bash fundraiser, the Slow Down, at GrowNYC’s Project Farmhouse steps from the Union Square Greenmarket. Slow Food NYC will honor their sixth Snailblazer, June Russell, in recognition of her outstanding leadership in creating a sustainable and fair regional farm and food chain. Since 2004, June has helped build and support a thriving regional grain economy through GrowNYC’s Greenmarket Regional Grains Project. The Regional Grains Project is dedicated to creating a marketplace for grains grown and milled in the Northeast, by educating and bringing together growers, processors, bakers, brewers, distillers, chefs, and eaters in a regional grain chain. Their mission begins at Greenmarket, where the bakers’ standard includes the use of flour made from grains grown and milled in our region.

We sat down with June to talk about her incredible work reinvigorating grain growing in the Northeast. 

Did you ever think you’d be working with grains for 10 years? 

Laughs. No. I had no idea what I was getting into or where it would lead. Initially, I was disappointed when Greenmarket asked me to tackle the “issue of bakers.”  I wasn’t sure it mattered.  Boy was I wrong.  Early on, I realized the potentially enormous impact of working with the staple crops on a regional level—to healthy soils, to system resilience, and to what ends up on our plates. Now, I have a sense of awe being a part of something that has become so much bigger and broader than our little quest to see if there was such a thing as local flour.

Do you think about where you’ll be in another 10 years?

I’m just starting to think about that now that we’ve laid some groundwork. We established a social enterprise—the Grainstand—and now we’re deep in strategic planning to determine what’s next. We have terrific, dedicated staff, ready to take things to the next level, which is key because some long-term objectives will take a generation to develop. But the food culture and the agriculture are now growing in tandem, and that’s incredible. Consumers in NYC are helping to create a stronger, more viable regional food system, and those changes are evident in the fields and in the new burgeoning infrastructure. This includes everything from crop diversity to soil health, carbon sequestration and developing de-centralized infrastructure that goes beyond the market to something like food sovereignty and resilience moving into the future. Yet this growth is unequivocally connected to the markets, so that is our focus.

What was the initial spark that kicked off the Greenmarket Regional Grains Project?

The initiative predated my time in my current role. It came from the Greenmarket Farmer and Community Advisory Committee (FCAC) as an effort to make bakers more mission supportive. There were several starting points, and there was a lot of foundational work and conversations that happened, but I can pinpoint two key moments that really gave us momentum.  One was Indrani Sen’s 2008 NYT article about northeast grains, and a group of farmers and bakers working to dispel the myth that New York’s agricultural conditions were not conducive to growing high quality wheat.  That piece really planted a seed, so to speak, not just with us, but throughout the country. Ironically, we pitched her the story to divert her attention away from other topics she was exploring at Greenmarket that, as new management, we were not ready for.  Greenmarket Director Michael Hurwitz said, “give her something positive to write about, like bakers.”  I was just starting to meet the people who would become our long-time allies. That story really rooted in the national imagination.

The second was a conference we hosted with Northeast Organic Farming Association- New York (NOFA-NY) in early 2010 that brought Greenmarket allies—shoppers bakers, and chefs—into the conversation. Things really took off after that day, and we started to receive grant funding to work on various aspects of the grain equation. Meanwhile, along with our bakers (who were required to use 15% local flours to remain eligible to sell at Greenmarkets), those allies started purchasing and creating demand to help drive the initial market. There were a few distillers in the room that day as well, who, along with farm brewers, were just getting started. (Craft bev. came along in 2012.)

It’s important to view this in the context of the local foods movement and, perhaps, the recession of 2008. I think we would have failed ten years prior. But by 2010, there were people fully dedicated to using as much as possible from local farms, as well as an explosion of small artisanal businesses backed by entrepreneurs looking to innovate, take risks, and launch commercial mills and distilleries, malting facilities, things that had not been done for over 100 years.  And things keep going…

As a region, we are still in startup phase.

I could go on and on. If you want to know more, I recently talked about these early years on a podcast for Heritage Radio.

What’s your favorite local grain?

 Emmer. Of course.

What grain has the most potential?

 Emmer. Of course.

Why?

It’s high in protein and highly resilient in the field against weather and climate fluctuations. For anyone looking to move away from the consumption of obscene amounts of animal protein, emmer is an excellent, plant-based replacement. It should be a staple on local menus. It’s delicious. I’m very fond of buckwheat too, and it plays an essential role on farms, and we can produce way more then we can sell right now.

Who is your Grains inspiration?

There are many unsung heroes at the grassroots level, mostly women (surprise, surprise). They are really the backbone of systemic change, working closely with farmers and shepherding the painstakingly slow work of research, field trials, and technical assistance to growers.  Julie Dawson, Lisa Kucek, Heather Darby, Elizabeth Dyck, Ellen Mallory, Eli Rogosa, to name a few on the east coast. And then there are our amazing female entrepreneurs like Andrea Stanley, lady maltstress (can there be a cooler occupation?) Amber Lambke of Maine Grains, and Mary-Howell Martens of Lakeview Organic. The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) strongly advocates for a regional approach and thinking in terms of systems, which has been helpful.

My grains guardian angel is Karen Hess. I met her at the 97th St. Greenmarket when I was a manager there. Before she passed away in 2007, she gave me a paper she had written on bread and flour, which has become our guiding document. It also provided a framework for us: work with what we can grow, what the land wants to give.  

Did you encounter any resistance at first?

That’s what the local bourbon is for.

Has rebranding the image of Grains been a challenge?

Huuuge! Until relatively recently, grains and flour were total non-entities in the culinary world. Getting people to take them seriously, not only in the cooking realm but by other food and agricultural advocates, can still be a struggle--though a case has been made and we have great bread to prove it. Still, there’s enormous amounts of work to be done as we continue to educate consumers and develop the market.

Grains and flour in our food system, and on our plates, are both all-encompassing and invisible at the same time--like being immersed in water. I’ve come to realize how commodity has everyone calibrated to the same specs, and we have lost what we now recognize as grain “literacy,” something that has been missing for almost 100 years. Happily, we are seeing some terrific new grain based products come into the market, and bakers are reconnecting to their primary ingredient. I can’t think of a better time to be a baker.

What’s your favorite craft beverage?

I’m super excited about all the rye whiskeys that are coming along. Some are just starting to hit with a little age on them at 4-5 years (given that Governor Cuomo’s craft beverage initiative only kicked in around 2012).  It’s been incredible to witness the launch and subsequent maturation of a whole new sector in food and agriculture, to see producers and consumers sprout up, and to literally co-create what we hope will be a more sustainable and resilient future. Distilleries and mills have their place as essential facilities in a localized food system. Cheers!

 

 

Our 100th Community Garden - Jackson Forest Community Garden

October 16, 2017
Posted in Community Gardens

Drum roll please…

GrowNYC is proud to announce that we have completed our 100th community garden -- Jackson Forest Community Garden!

 

Jackson Forest Community Garden Slideshow

 

The Jackson Forest site has been home to a garden since 1983. After a building was demolished, the lot was an eyesore – it was a mess and full of trash. The community cleared out the lot and began planting, and the site became a GreenThumb garden in 1991. It flourished – it was full of trees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. A true community space, gardeners at Jackson Forest would often leave extra produce near the entrance so neighbors walking by could grab fresh vegetables. In 2008, the garden closed to build a new retaining wall and an iron fence and install a permanent water source. The garden had to be demolished in the process, and the renovations ended up taking longer than expected, while the anxious gardeners had no access to the site.

Jackson Forest Community Garden was recently rebuilt by the GrowNYC Gardens team, along with help from corporate volunteers from BrainPOP, Morgan Stanley, and KPS Advisors. It was a lot of hard work! They mulched, raked, spread soil, and built new garden beds, tables, and benches for community members to enjoy.

The gardeners have been working on getting the garden back up and running and so far have grown cucumbers, okra, peaches, and lots of tomatoes! Students from the nearby school come to take care of their two beds and learn about the science of gardening and composting. Next spring, the gardeners plan to throw a big opening party to welcome the neighborhood back to the garden. In the future, the gardeners hope that Jackson Forest will again be a community meeting space, to offer fresh produce to the neighbors, and to teach classes for children on weekends.

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“Thanks to [GrowNYC Assistant Director] Mike Rezny and his team, we have a lot of benches, we have a lot of tables where the community can come sit, read the newspaper, just get in touch with nature.” - community gardener Marie Brook
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GrowNYC is so honored to call the Jackson Forest Community Garden our 100th garden. The dedicated spirit and joy of the community gardeners at Jackson Forest are a shining example of how important places like this are for a neighborhood. Today, this garden’s beauty shows what can be accomplished when we work together! 

You can be proud knowing that all the achievements of our Gardens program were made possible with support from people like you. We never would have been able to do it without help from our many donors, especially the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation. Since September, you helped to raise $41,592 for the New Garden Fund. That’s $11,592 over our goal! You’ve helped establish the foundation for our Gardens program to continue building the NEXT 100 gardens that serve communities like yours all around the city. 

Thank you so much to everyone who believed in our vision and helped contribute! We couldn’t do it without you!

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Want to stay involved? Visit our website to learn more about our Gardens program, find a community garden near you, receive our community gardens newsletter, or sign up to volunteer

 

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