Union Square Market

I spent a fabulous weekend exploring New York City with my daughter. I love New York. I love the art, the buildings, the bustle, the vibes, the sheer electric energy of the place. But, no surprise, my favorite place was the Union Square Market. You know what they say, “you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.” I know that technically, Atlanta isn’t really “country,” and okay, technically, I’m not really a “girl” but fortunately, this isn’t a technical blog.

Who can resist mountains of fresh corn, arranged as carefully as a lego building? or bins of fresh, crisp apples? or racks of peppers sporting every color of the rainbow? We were only there for the weekend and staying in a hotel so the lure of the fruits and vegetables was not to actually buy anything, but just to celebrate the abundant bounty of the local farms.

We are not alone in our love of a Farmer’s Market. The number of markets in the United States has grown astronomically since the 1970s when they began to become popular. Interestingly, in California up until 1977, state law forbid the sale of produce outside of a commercial market. But in that year there was such a bumper crop of peaches that farmers couldn’t sell them all. Frustrated with the law, they dumped their excess peaches on the lawn of the state capital, forcing the then governor, Jerry Brown, to change the law and the first farmer’s markets in California were established.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture established the State Farmer’s Market in downtown Atlanta in 1936. They moved it to their 150 acre site in Forest Park (close to the Atlanta airport) in 1958, where it is still thriving.

There are so many reasons to shop at a local market and now, almost all communities have some kind of market. It’s great to meet the farmer who grows your food, it helps support local farmers, the food is fresh and, more often than not, organic and buying locally greatly reduces your carbon footprint, something that we all need to be more conscious of in our eating choices.

The Union Square Market is now open 4 days a week, year round and, in addition to mounds of fruits and vegetables, sells locally produced meats, flowers, artisan cheeses, maple syrup and other products of the region. In typical New York style, it attracts hordes of people, over 60,000 a day. It was established in 1976 and is proud to be the oldest farmer’s market in New York. Though, they should not feel too proud, Borough Market in London has been attracting shoppers for 1,000 years!

So, you can have the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center AND the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’ll take The Union Square Market with it’s treasures from the earth.