"EYE ON THE COMMUNITY"

Green Market and Jobs for "Lafayette Gardens Youth"

by Daniel Bush

05.12.10 - 07:06 am

A green market tailored to the tastes of Lafayette Gardens residents, and staffed by youth from the public housing development, will open this summer in Fort Greene.

The non-profit organization GrowNYC chose the public housing complex in Clinton Hill for its Youth Market program, which operates green markets in underserved communities. The markets, run by local teenagers earning $10 an hour under the supervision of a professional manager, sell fresh fruits and vegetables from regional farms.

Besides providing summertime employment, the urban farm stands present healthy eating choices to communities that lack access to fresh produce. In an added bonus, GrowNYC matches market inventory to the specific tastes of local residents, whatever they may be.

In the case of Lafayette Gardens - an 880-unit complex housing a diverse population of mostly African-American and Latino residents - that means this year’s first-ever market will serve up plenty of yams, turnips, collard greens, and more, said Tyree Stanback, president of the Resident Association of Lafayette Gardens.

Stanback helped land the program, which will employ three to six teenagers from Lafayette Gardens, with the help of Councilwoman Letitia James. The market is tentatively scheduled to run from 1 to 7 p.m. on Fridays on the corner of Fulton Street and Greene Avenue, in neighboring Fort Greene.

The spot was chosen for its position at the intersection of several diverse Central Brooklyn neighborhoods, said Stanback, who envisions the market doubling as an afternoon culture swap.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for all of these communities to come together,” he said.

But most importantly, the market will provide residents of Lafayette Gardens and the area’s other public housing developments with access to affordable fresh produce.

Stanback said diabetes and high blood pressure resulting from high-sugar diets are common problems at Lafayette Gardens, where many of the project’s 2,500-plus residents rely on a farmer who shows up a few times a week to sell vegetables out of his truck.

The market could provide people with the “tools and know-how to bring some of those conditions down,” said Stanback, himself a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef with a rich background in the organic and local farm fresh movements.

Stanback said he hopes to expand the Youth Market beyond its planned one-day per week summertime schedule. A start date for this year’s season has not been announced yet.