In Season: celebrating 50 years of Greenmarkets

New York City's first Greenmarket was started by two city planners, Barry Benepe and Bob Lewis, in 1976. They did so to solve two crises: the widespread loss of small family farms and a newly industrialized food system that decreased the quality of produce specifically. 

Amelia Tarpey, Program and Publicity Manager for the Greenmarkets, says at first, farmers were skeptical. They didn't believe that Greenmarkets would catch on in the city, and they were nervous about the perception of the city at the time as crime-ridden and dilapidated. 

But when the gates opened at the first market on July 17, 1976, Tarpey said, New Yorkers flooded in. They soon filled the site under the Queensboro Bridge, encouraging more farmers to join the program. 

Today, GrowNYC manages 45 markets around the city that are open all year round.

GrowNYC will be celebrating 50 years of Greenmarkets on Friday, July 31st, at the Union Square location from 4-8p.m. Visit GrowNYC.gov/50 for more.