New York: Farming Mecca?

Horns blaring. Crowds plodding. Cultures clashing. Buildings looming. That’s New York City. But how about fresh vegetables, organic dairy and beef, and locally made wine? That’s New York, too.

Memorial Day weekend marks the opening of many of the summer-only farmers’ markets in New York, where you can get fresh, local produce and meats. (A handful of markets are open year-round, but sell stored or imported foods during the winter.)

More than 200 farmers participate in Greenmarket, a project run by the Council on the Environment of New York City. Greenmarket operates more than 40 farmers’ markets in the five boroughs, many of them right in Manhattan. The Union Square market is the largest and best-known, with dozens of farmers selling their wares.

Try to visit on a weekday (the Union Square market is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) to get a feel for the pace of an old-time market. Buyers take time to sample and check out the freshness of several producers before entering into price negotiations. Sellers tell the stories of their farms and foods. For a more raucous experience, visit the same market on Saturday. It’s wall-to-wall people and resembles the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, with buy and sell orders flying.

Alternatives For Foodies

To enjoy slightly different, but distinctly New York, food experiences, take a little time to visit these spots:

• Chelsea Market. The 120-year-old building in the now-tony Chelsea section of Manhattan began its life as home to the National Biscuit Company, original maker of some of the great foods of our time, including Mallomars and, yes, Oreos. After many reincarnations, it’s now home to more than two dozen wholesale and retail food-related enterprises. Since being “re-gentrified” in the 1990s, the Market is a little more genteel—I admit to missing the haggling there used to be—but you can find treats from all over the world (and up the street) under one roof. Visit Friedman’s Kosher Deli at lunchtime and order up a triple-decker corned beef sandwich.

• Zabar’s Food Market and Eli’s Manhattan. I put these two great food emporiums together because they began that way. Zabar’s has been at the same location at 80th and Broadway since 1934, while Eli Zabar started Eli’s after a bitter family falling-out in the late 1990s. You can see why if you visit both stores. At Zabar’s, prepare to be intimidated. It’s a New York institution and, as such, the staff expect you to know what you’re doing. The aisles are skinny, the selection is amazing, and the staff are knowledgeable and efficient (if not always “sunny”). Order a potato rugelach and wander the store. Right around the corner at Eli’s, the food selections are a little less local, and the atmosphere a little less earthy. Visit the cheese section to be blown away by varieties and flavors you never imagined (no cheese curds here).

In Closing

To note the fact that May is National Tourism Month, here are a couple of fun facts about travel:

• The travel and tourism industry employs about 231 million people and generates more than 10 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.

• A March survey by the Travel Industry Association indicates that American taxpayers will spend approximately $10 billion of the federal tax rebates intended to stimulate the economy on travel.