Farmers Market Celebrates 10 Years of Bringing Local Food to Heart of Chelsea

In the early morning hours of a summer Saturday in 2014, an intrepid group of small-scale farmers and food makers set up a line of tents on the sidewalk on the North side of 23rd Street, off 9th Avenue. The Chelsea Farmers Market is celebrating ten years of bringing locally grown produce and freshly made foods to that very same spot this season.

Having thrived through the challenges of being perched on a New York City sidewalk, weathered months under scaffolding, and faced the Covid-19 pandemic alongside Chelsea residents, the farmers market has cemented its place as a welcome weekly fixture in the neighborhood. Every Saturday from April through December between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., shoppers can find an array of freshly harvested, locally grown fruits and vegetables, Long Island sourced seafood, pastured chicken and eggs, freshly baked breads, pastries and pies, briny pickles, seasonal soups, New York roasted coffee and more.

The Chelsea Farmers Market is run by Down to Earth Markets, a farmers market operator that manages markets in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester. Dacotah Rousseau, Managing Director of Down to Earth Markets, said “We are so pleased to be celebrating ten successful years running the Chelsea Farmers Market. We love being part of this vibrant neighborhood and providing its residents with weekly access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown food.”

Rousseau added, “A big thank you goes to our site sponsor, Church of the Holy Apostles, and the advocates from Penn South and nearby block associations who welcomed the farmers market to the neighborhood and gave it a foothold 10 years ago. Over the past decade, the Chelsea Farmers Market has become a true place-maker that turns a stretch of city sidewalk into an inclusive, welcoming space for community gathering, enjoyment of good food, and small-scale, local commerce in the neighborhood.”

SNAP EBT is welcome at the Chelsea Farmers Market and they accept and distribute matching Health Bucks (up to $10 per day) to make shoppers’ SNAP budgets go further. Stop at the market manager’s tent to learn more. WIC & Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks can be used at the farm stands June through November.

A new addition to the farmers market this season is non-profit Green Tree Textiles, a Hunt’s Point based recycler of unwanted textiles. Green Tree Textiles is committed to making sure the textile donations they receive are diverted from the waste stream to be resold, reused or repurposed as textile insulation in walls and soundproofing. They accept clothes, shoes, bags and household linens in any condition. Look for the green collection bin in the market every Saturday.

Down to Earth Markets and the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony with New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher and other local elected officials to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Chelsea Farmers Market and to usher in its next decade at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5th at 23rd Street and 9th Avenue. Following the ribbon cutting there will be an hour-long coffee and cookie reception. The community is welcome to attend and celebrate with the farmers market.

Since its founding in 1991, Down to Earth Markets has been connecting cooks and eaters with small farms and food producers through their farmers markets. The company is a mission-driven Certified B Corp., committed to using business as a force for good by considering the social and environmental impact of every business decision they make.

Melissa Grieco is the marketing director of Down to Earth Markets.