Fork in the Road's Robert Sietsema is excited to report that whelks—aka sea snails—are for sale at the Abingdon Square Greenmarket from P.E. and D.D. Seafood today. more ›

We already knew that more people than ever were using food stamps in this economy, but today, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at what happens when too many people need assistance: job centers turn into complete sh*tshows. more ›

Occupy Wall Street protesters, who are supposed to be fighting FOR the 99 percent, are really screwing stuff up for local farmers. Thanks to their total takeover of Zuccotti Park, the Occupiers have forced farmers at the longstanding Zuccotti Greenmarket to relocate to a street corner nearly half a mile away. Way to ruin organic apples for EVERYONE, guys! more ›

While Tropical Storm Irene may not have hit NYC as hard as it some feared, the storm has caused some serious devastation in other parts of the state, particularly in much of the farmland that supplies Greenmarket shoppers with their heirloom tomatoes and ramps and whatnot. It's still too early to asses the full extent of the losses, but flooding, soil erosion and poor road conditions have all but destroyed some farms upstate, resulting in some heartbreaking stories from small family-owned farms. Governor Cuomo has requested federal assistance to help farmers recover from Irene damages totaling at least $45 million, but some NYC restaurants and food organizations are also banding together to help. Here's how: more ›

Welcome back to our series Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at eggplant, and today we're (not) cooking with wax beans. more ›

Welcome back to our series Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at heirloom tomatoes, and today we're cooking with okra. more ›

The dairy nightmare is finally over, as cheese vendors at the city's Greenmarkets are finally being allowed to cut their cheese to order at the markets, which they had been temporarily barred from doing. more ›

Welcome back to our series Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at basil, and today, we're cooking with botanical mystery zucchini. more ›

Welcome back to our series Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at strawberries, and today, we have a very special cocktail edition of Market Fresh, featuring booze and basil. more ›

Welcome back to our series Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at lettuce and radishes, and today we're enjoying a summertime favorite: strawberries. more ›

Welcome back to our semi-weekly column, Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we looked at Swiss chard and rhubarb, and today we're welcoming the arrival of peas! more ›

Welcome back to our semi-weekly column, Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we experimented with sunchokes, and this week, we have a very special double-ingredient feature, using both Swiss chard and rhubarb. more ›

Welcome back to our semi-weekly column, Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last week, we played around with overwintered spinach, and today, we're taking a look at sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes. more ›

Welcome back to our semi-weekly column, Market Fresh, in which we take a look at one ingredient that's showing up in the city's Greenmarkets right now and tell you what to do with it. Last time, we discussed the merits and virtues of asparagus, and today, we're looking at another green monster, spinach. more ›

It used to be that if you wanted a taste of of locally cured pickles or bacon caramel popcorn at the Brooklyn Flea, you had to first fight past hordes of bargain hunters diving for refurbished cabinets and vintage jewelry. Until now! The recently expanded Williamsburg Flea is launching a food-only Saturday market, cheekily named "Smorgasburg." more ›

One man is fed up with what he deems overpriced goods at the city's Green Markets, specifically the one in Union Square. He posted that after not visiting the market there for a year, he returned only to find it's become a "gouging shit fest." With vendors selling cookies for $4 a piece, a bunch of radishes for $7, and jam for $10 a jar... he has now vowed to walk away from buying local. Could the Green Market kill the conscious buyer and in doing so bring Wal-Mart to Union Square?! He writes: more ›

Who's excited for Ramp season?! Oh, you don't know what they are? Well, the Ramp (or wild leek) is the culinary harbinger of spring, a combination of garlic and onion flavor in a shallot-like bulb. It's pretty much foodie heroin. They'll supposedly be back Wednesday at Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm at the Union Square Greenmarket, and Bishop says this could be one of the best seasons yet, telling Grub Street the combination of warmth and rain is "as if I ordered the weather." Ordering some mints after eating these would also be a good idea. more ›

This week in Eat Cetera: Endless specials at West 3rd Common, vegetable-filled Mondays at Dovetail, another new bar from Niagara, lunch at Avenue C mainstay Esperanto, and new menu additions at Abe & Arthur's. more ›

Last time we checked in on the McCarren Greenmarket, it was begrudgingly moving to a concrete-heavy spot on Union Avenue between Bayard and Driggs, but now the NY Post reports that the market got a little upgrade, and will be moving to Driggs and North 12th this October. The move is being made after the Parks Department was concerned about how damaged the grass was becoming at their current location of Bedford Avenue and Lorimer Street. CB1 Parks Committee member Dewey Thompson told the paper, “It is a terrific transition step towards permanently demapping Union between Driggs and North 12th and a perfectly suitable use for the street, especially considering the fact that, for years, the Greenmarket, while offering the community much-needed fresh greens has been crushing some of the highly endangered green grass in the park." Some vendors are concerned with losing money due to less pedestrian traffic, so everyone go buy some apple cider donuts and pumpkins this fall! more ›

The Greenmarket held at McCarren Park is about to get a lot less green. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the the Parks Department will be relocating it from the park to the concrete of Union Avenue. Holding it at the park has caused damage to the grounds, with the farmers’ set-ups, as well as the high traffic of customers, turning grass into dirt. A Parks Department spokesman told the paper, “The grass is in very bad condition over there—very brown and compacted—so we’d like to spruce up that area by re-seeding the park’s entrance." The sellers are not enthused, however, saying, “We’re located at the most-trafficked area in this park. Moving us would disconnect the market from the rest of the park. It may be the end of this market." However, the new proposed location of Union Avenue between Bayard and Driggs isn't really that far away from their current locale. more ›

Spotted at a Morningside Heights Greenmarket: Possibly the most obscene parsnip(s) ever. See the money shot after the jump; unfortunately, it's not the Ron Jeremy of parsnips--or fortunately, depending on your perspective. more ›

A week ago the Times reported on Jay Dines, an upstate farmer banished from the city’s Greenmarkets for selling meat he had not raised himself. Today the paper follows up with a look at these complicated Greenmarket rules that have many farmers chafing. Alfred Milanese, co-owner of Martin’s Pretzels, is in his 26th year at the Greenmarket. But he says other vendors resent him because he’s allowed to bypass the “producer-only” rule and sell pretzels made by Mennonites in Pennsylvania: “Over the years people have pointed fingers. They say, what about the pretzel man? He doesn’t have his hands in the dough.” more ›

Today the Times takes a long, hard look at Jay Dines, an upstate farmer who was banished from the city’s Greenmarkets only to get thrown out of the Brooklyn Flea as well. Inspectors from the Greenmarket – who visit vendors’ farms to verify they’re personally growing or making everything they sell at the markets – have accused Dines of making his all-beef hot dogs and bacon from animals obtained elsewhere. Dines says he’s just “trying to keep from losing the farm,” but the reporter totally catches him in a lie about his hot dogs. more ›

No surprise here, but skyrocketing fuel costs have not spared farmers who sell produce at Greenmarkets, the AP finds. Upstate strawberry grower Franca Tantillo estimates that roughly half the money she earns at a Manhattan Greenmarket is spent on transportation costs. And it’s not just getting back and forth from the city that’s more expensive; fuel costs have driven up the price of fertilizers and animal feed, and plastic supplies for greenhouses cost more. As the costs are passed on to their urban customers, farmers like Elly Hushour, who sells goat cheese that she drives in from her farm in Pennsylvania, predict that "local soon will not be that important.” And maybe Union Square soon will not be that mobbed? more ›