In 2006, two youth and a business owner from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn partnered with GrowNYC to create the first Youthmarket, an urban farmstand, selling fresh produce from local farms. The first local produce delivery showed up in a station wagon. Open on a weekly basis, and gaining in popularity, the Bed-Stuy site quickly outgrew that station wagon.
Produce sold at GrowNYC Youthmarkets was sourced from GrowNYC Wholesale, providing a direct-to-consumer market for mid-size farmers who were often too large to participate in our retail Greenmarkets, but too small to compete in the traditional wholesale marketplace, and were disappearing at an alarming rate.
Youthmarkets were staffed through community partnerships that connected GrowNYC with neighborhood youth, who ran the markets themselves. Through a comprehensive curriculum and hands-on training, Youthmarkets equipped young New Yorkers with the tools to gain meaningful work experience. Participants developed teamwork and problem-solving skills while helping ensure smooth day-to-day operations. They also built practical business knowledge by managing inventory and applying supply-and-demand principles to guide ordering decisions.
Youthmarkets were located in neighborhoods composed of majority families earning low and moderate-incomes. A majority of sites included a partner such as the local business improvement district, other nonprofits, libraries and hospitals. All sites promoted and accepted Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP EBT), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), Health Bucks, and offered other incentives to remove barriers to food access.
GrowNYC operated 15 Youthmarkets, eventually transitioning this food access model into GrowNYC Farmstand, a seasonal market-style model aimed at increasing access to affordable fresh fruits, vegetables, and food staples, by leveraging the purchasing power of a wholesale distribution model.
In 2021, the Youthmarkets eventually transitioned into GrowNYC Farmstands. Similar to Youthmarket, the seasonal market-style Farmstand sites increase access to affordable fresh fruits, vegetables, and food staples, by leveraging the purchasing power of a wholesale distribution model. All food was sourced transparently through GrowNYC Wholesale to ensure traceability and transparency. All locations accepted nutrition incentives like SNAP EBT. The difference being the Farmstands were run by paid GrowNYC employees, and not youth interns.
GrowNYC Farmstands were located in communities across the city with limited access to fresh food to enhance equitable access and opportunities for healthy eating. Farmstand sites were operated in collaboration with numerous community-based and mutual aid organizations that were deeply rooted in the neighborhoods we served. In our role as environmental stewards, we donated unsold produce to local emergency food providers to prevent food waste.
Today, GrowNYC still trains young adults through its paid Workforce Development program. The seasonal Farmstand program was sunsetted in June 2026, GrowNYC still increases access to fresh food through GrowNYC Wholesales Food for Families project.