Buy Your Veggies From Henry Street Youth
By Chelsea Jupin
Click here to see photos from the Youthmarket’s opening day »
On the opening day of this year’s Lower East Side Youthmarket, Henry Street Settlement’s Tiana and Phylisha Conyers, both graduates of Project Rise, helped with the busy lunchtime rush, as Lower East Side residents purchased fresh local fruits and vegetables. Tiana and Phylisha helped cut the greens off of carrots, weigh and price orders, and even label the produce for the large crowd of eager customers.
Project Rise is a six-month employment program that provides disengaged youth with access to GED classes, work readiness workshops, and a subsidized internship. For the past three years, select graduates of this program have worked at the Lower East Side Youthmarket.
GrowNYC’s Youthmarket is a network of urban farm stands operated by neighborhood youth, supplied by local farmers and designed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to New York City. Through the Youthmarket, families on the Lower East Side have increased access to farm fresh food; the Henry Street youth earn money and learn small-business skills; and farmers in the New York City region can earn revenue through access to underserved markets.
GrowNYC works with community partner organizations, including Henry Street Settlement, to establish Youthmarkets throughout the city, providing planning, development, and operational oversight, and sources fresh, locally grown produce from regional farmers. Henry Street’s Lower East Side Youthmarket is the only one located in Manhattan.
Youthmarket’s training program prepares young people to plan and operate a farm-stand business while educating them about their health, their community, nutrition, the environment and regional agriculture. The training program also educates youth to think critically about the food in their bodegas and supermarkets and the alternative benefits of eating locally produced fruits and vegetables. On the operational side, Youthmarket business training focuses on promotion, merchandising and customer service.
The market is held on Thursdays from 1 to 7 p.m. in front of the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street) and will run until November 20.
