Every Friday, a diverse crowd gathers in front of It’s Only Natural, the organic supermarket, for the North End Farmers Market on Main Street. The weekly event draws both local residents and students together to mingle around fresh produce, line up for pizza, and lis¬ten to live music.
Izzi Greenberg ’05, the Director of the North End Action Team (NEAT), has been the driving force behind the farmers market for the past few years. The NEAT booth provides flyers with information on everything from chil¬dren’s activities to healthcare services. The group also sells reusable shopping bags and offers a local newsletter with neighborhood news. She explains that the purpose of the farmers market is partly neighborhood revitalization.
“We wanted people to experience this neighborhood,” Greenberg said. “We wanted to create a destination that would draw people and to break down the stereotype that this neighborhood isn’t safe.”
In the past year, the North End Farmers Market has grown significantly, from about two vendors to close to a dozen vendors. The produce available includes a variety of fruits and vegetables from nearby farms and businesses. The George Hall Farm stand, for example, offers produce that is certified organic and pesticide-free, such as black cherry tomatoes, watermelons, and a plethora of berries. Other stands offer baked goods and seasonal specials made of the delicious fruits sold at neighboring tables. Every week, the Farmers Market also features food from a different local restaurant.
The North End, which is the area North of Washington Street, is statistically the poorest neighborhood in Middletown. The area is largely a food desert—the North End has limited access to fresh produce due to a lack of grocery stores and neighborhood bo-degas. The North End Farmers Market serves this community not only by im¬proving access to food and organics, but also by making them more afford¬able—the Farmers Market accepts food stamps and WIC stamps, which is rare for a farmers market, even on a state¬wide level.
A summer lunch program spon¬sored by a Federal Fresh Food Grant brings local children from the Green Street Arts Center and nearby schools to learn about nutrition and agriculture—the program also encourages families to get involved, and participants are sent home with fresh vegetables every week.
“We use this as a community or¬ganizing tool by bringing in youth and getting them excited about the market,” Greenberg said. “They act as ambas¬sadors for the market by bringing that excitement to their families and in turn creating a customer base that wasn’t there before. Those people are now more likely to get involved with NEAT.”
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