Elmhurst Greenmarket offers fresh produce, supports local farmers

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- If you’re interested in farm to table eating, you’re in luck! 

Several farmers markets have just opened throughout the city, including one that’s located right outside Elmhurst hospital. 

The market is run by GrowNYC, a nonprofit organization that champions sustainability and environmental solutions. It runs 25 markets throughout the city year round. 

Another 20, like the Elmhurst one, are open from the summer until November. 

"The vendors that sell here may only sell what they have raised, caught grown or baked themselves within 250 miles of the city,” said Andrina Sanchez of GROWNYC.

The group says most of the food is picked the day before it is sold. “We are uplifting regional farmers, protecting farmland in the northeast and also providing New Yorkers with the freshest most affordable produce.”

Farmer Anthony Gordon is with Terhune Orchards in Salt Point, New York. He says there are many reasons to shop local. 

"We allow it to develop in time so when it reaches here, it is able to have that flavor you’re looking for in a fruit. Most of the time the fruits in the supermarket use a lot of chemicals and we try our very best as a small farmer to have minimum spray,” said Gordon.

Elmhurst resident Perez Columba shops at the farmer’s market in her neighborhood as often as she can. “I like it- it’s fresh! That’s why I come here.”

Many of these consumers say supporting local farmers is a priority.

Natalia Nizhnik works in area. “They really work very hard. It’s not easy to work in the fields in the hot summer.”

This Elmhurst Greenmarket is open on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will be open until November.