An Urban Renaissance (Edible Communities)
The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market features prominently in this July 20, 2023 Edible Communities article.
Excerpt:
An Urban Renaissance
On a sunny summer Saturday, near the Hudson River in downtown Troy, New York, there’s a thrum in the air. It’s punctuated by pops of color: red and blue tents and awnings, vibrant summer clothes, and bins, buckets, bags and shelves overflowing with the bounty of the season.
The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is a vibrant example of bringing the farm to the city. With more than 100 vendors lined up across six city blocks surrounding historic Monument Square—the same streets where HBO filmed the television series The Gilded Age—some 15,000 shoppers stroll the lanes.
This market has contributed to an urban renaissance. According to Market Communications Manager Duncan Crary, “Many small, historical cities, by the year 2000, had fallen into severe decline. People had moved out to the suburbs and the urban cores had been emptied. Back then, you had to go to great lengths to bring people back into these cities.”
Now approaching 25 years, the Troy Waterfront market was established as a way of helping rural food producers interact with their urban-dwelling customers. Vendors hail from a roughly 50-mile radius and sell a mix of vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy and prepared foods.
Sharon Bedford has been shopping with her partner Fred Alm at the Troy Waterfront market since its inception.
She proudly calls it “the best farmers’ market,” to which Alm adds, “We do most of our food shopping at the market and we supplement that by going to the grocery for what we can’t get at the market.”
“I like buying from the farmer,” Bedford continues. “I like knowing where my food was grown. I like having a relationship with the farmers.”
The market operates year-round, turning indoors when the weather cools, and was awarded first in the America’s Farmers Market Celebration™ during the 2019-2020 outdoor season. Having expanded from an original vendor list totaling 14, Crary says, “the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market has become such a critical part of Troy, New York’s culture and economy.”
Through their participation in the America’s Farmers Market Celebration™, interest in the market has further increased and people are making day trips just to check it out, Market Manager Steve Ridler says.
“The celebration has gained a life of its own in the last few years,” adds Ridler. “It’s a recognition of a market’s role and gets customers and vendors excited about their markets. There’s a competitive element, but really it’s a celebration and opportunity to promote all farmers’ markets.”