Fresh Food Like in the Old Times
Farmer Néstor Tello
New York, April 1, 2009 – Farmers from upstate New York not only see the Greenmarket at Union Square as the most convenient place to sell their organic products, but also to keep in touch with long-time friends in the city.
At least that is the experience that Néstor Tello, the owner of Tello’s Green Farm in Red Hook, upstate New York, has three times a week when he sells his organic eggs to his “friends.”
Tello describes himself not only as a farmer, but as a man who transports people to the past. “Here, there is real integration between us [farmers] and consumers. People feel they are shopping as in the 19th century when you could buy fresh food every day,” said this immigrant from Colombia who has been selling his products for the last ten years in the popular downtown farmer’s market.
A normal day for Tello in Union Square is characterized by two events: the selling of most of his organic farm production, and an updating for his customers about his upstate farm. “They don’t only ask about the farm, they want to know about your personal life too. They like to know, and I like to talk,” he said.
But Tello cannot count the other farmers who sell eggs as his friends in Union Square. Many of other are at odds with him because of his low selling prices, though, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by that.
“Summer is coming and business is picking up and I want to offer good prices to my customers,” said this farmer pointing to a dozen of organic eggs selling for $3,75, and to a half a dozen marked for $2.
An Old Tradition
Selling organic food in New York City’s streets is nothing new. In the 1800s, Brooklyn was the top agricultural producer county in the country. In the mid 1990s, farms moved to the Midwest and local farming diminished in the area. But in the 1970s complaints about stale food in supermarkets paved the way for farmers to offer and sell fresh food into city neighborhoods.
Migliori Farm Stand
Migliori Farm is one of those farms that have been a reliable provider of fresh food to city residents for decades. Located in Tivoli, upstate New York, it brings three times a week its produce to Union Square and once a week to Bowling Green park in downtown Manhattan.
These days, Migliori Farm is selling organic apples and pears, and hot apple and pear cider. “This is the fruit season. The greenhouses just started to sow and we’ll see the vegetables in three months,” said Juan Chasi, a 15-year employee of the farm who is in charge of selling Migliori’s products in the city.
Chasi admits that right now business is slow and that some of the apples in display at Union Square are from last year’s harvest, but “we have a special freezer where we maintain them,” he said about the red apples that sell for $1,40 a pound.
One of the magnets to attract customers, Chasi says, is the fact that the farm uses few chemicals during the growing of its products. “I don’t work there, but I know they use only pesticides to kill the weeds,” he said. “That it reflects in the flavor’s fruit, and has a beneficial effect in the health of the customer.”
