Good for You, Good for the Planet

A visit to our local Greenmarket on Broadway—the biweekly farmers market—will reveal the full force of the local and fresh-foods movement. On Thursdays and Sundays, farmers line the streets, struggling to keep up with the demand as people from all over the community get in line to buy fresh New York apples, local milk, Concord grapes, delicious baked goods, and more.

Markets such as this one have always been popular with foodies and chefs—the Greenmarket organization, which runs dozens of markets throughout the city, boasts a list of celebrity regulars, including such food icons as Mario Batali and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. But it is only recently that the general community has become interested as well.

Margaret Hoffman, the local market manager, believes that this shift is mainly due to Hurricane Katrina. After seeing the fragility of the environment in the aftermath of the storm, she says, consumers became interested in doing their part to be “green.” Many turned to farmers markets where food is local and gas miles are substantially diminished. Others feel that the recent upswing in popularity is due to the increasing interest in the taste and origins of the foods we eat, as well as the environmental benefits. But, either way, the continually increasing popularity of fresh and local foods is indisputable.

Around the city, the use of local and fresh foods has also skyrocketed. David Bouley, chef-owner of Bouley in Tribeca, takes pride in describing his “apple-fed baby pig from Bender Farms, Conn.,” while Maury Rubin of the City Bakery provides a daily-changing salad bar, sandwiches, and soups based on available produce from the Union Square Greenmarket. At Il Laboratorio del Gelato on the Lower East Side, Jon Snyder experiments with unique flavors of ice cream using local cream and flavors. Chefs at an increasing number of restaurants are working to embrace local goods and to build a community of farmers, restauranteurs, and customers.

The latter, for their part, flock to these places out of appreciation for the fact that they use the most local, fresh ingredients available for their cuisine. According to his Web site, Bouley strives “to take diners on a path to explore new and exciting culinary experiences,” while “highlighting the importance of relations with suppliers.” Bouley has seen enormous popularity, and the starkly different City Bakery is invariably packed despite its two floors full of tables.

Despite the craze throughout the city for local products, it seems that we here at Columbia are less than enthusiastic about purchasing them. Hoffman says that the Greenmarket generally serves the community and Columbia employees, but few students shop there. On campus, student attitudes seem to range from mostly apathetic to vaguely interested. And while most would like to buy these fresh, local products, they are not exceptionally inclined to seek them out. Christine Yeh. CC ’11, is one of many who echo this sentiment: when asked about her interest in purchasing organic foods, her response was, “I don’t really care.”

Garden of Eden’s store manager, who chose to be quoted simply as Mike, has seen different trends, though. As the movement has become more significant, his store has bought more of its produce from farmers and local markets, and most of its baked goods come from local bakeries. “You know, I think they [students] are interested [in local foods],” says Mike. “Almost everything is changing from time to time.

Summertime, you sell something else more. Spring, something else more.” He sees a pattern leaning toward more interest in local and fresh foods, but little consistency and uniformity throughout the year. Jeff of Samascott Orchards, which has a stand on 114th Street and Broadway and sells produce and baked goods, agrees that students seem to be buying more than they used to. “Mostly produce. Apples. And baked goods. They love the baked goods.”

Our farmers market is just the beginning of the local foods movement for us at Columbia, but it need not be as far as we go. Simply walking down Broadway will reveal the plethora of other amazing options available: Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, and Zabar’s. Other Greenmarkets, each with a unique collection of vendors, are scattered throughout the city. Take a look: in any given block, our city can offer food options that few Americans elsewhere are lucky enough to find in their entire lifetimes. As any New Yorker can tell you, it’s a paradigm of diversity that can and will enhance your experience in this city.