East Williamsburg Youth Green Market

Sprout Farms is partnering with GrowNYC to start a Youth Market at the corner of Graham Avenue and Grand Street.  The location of this market is more then 20 minutes walking distance from the nearest farmers market.  The Youth Market will consist of three 10x10 tents.  Sprout's high school interns will work at the market, which will be open every Thursday from 2 to 7 PM.  The market will begin mid-July and run for 20 weeks.  Our interns will harvest food from their school garden, and GrowNYC will purchase fresh produce from local farms to sell at the market.  The market manager will run cooking demonstrations and work with the students to teach market logistics and economics.  Week by week the students will work with the manager to decide future orders based on the purchasing budget and income generated.  At the end of the summer, GrowNYC facilitates a competition between all of its Youth Markets, taking the most successful students out to dinner.  GrowNYC is partnering with Sprout Farms because of our established presence in the neighborhood, existing educational programming, and work with the local community.  

Students will be selected after an application process, then receive training.  Beginning July 11, students will harvest produce at the school garden and meet the market manager at the market's location.  After setting up the tents, tables, and laying out the produce, students will help customers select and purchase produce.  At the end of the market, students will disassemble the tents and clean up.

Last year 340 lbs of fresh produce was harvested from the school garden, this project will get the produce into the community.  The nearest farmers market to our proposed location is a 20 minute walk away.  Establishing a Youth Market in East Williamsburg will create an oasis of fresh, local produce.  By partnering with GrowNYC, the market will be able to accept EBT cards, increasing access for low-income community members.  The project allows Sprout Farms to hire more student interns, teaching them job skills and providing a source of income.