The Greenpoint Food Market was featured in a New York Times article at the beginning of June. Good for Greenpoint, right?
Perhaps not. The market’s vendors operate on a wide spectrum of the professionalism and legality scale. For some, this is a career; for others, it’s a hobby, a community-bonding activity, a stepping-stone to bigger things, a way to earn a little extra cash, or a great lab to test out new recipes and products. But, as mentioned (very briefly) in the Times article, the New York Department of Health requires that all food vendors must a) have a permit for handling food, and b) concoct their wares in a commercial kitchen (a luxury out of reach for many vendors, whose profit margins are thin or nonexistent as is).
Immediately following the article, market organizer Joann Kim—who started the market to avoid the regulatory hassles involved in selling at shops—was contacted by various media and government officials. Kim began meeting with folks from the local government and the health department, along with the organizers of other city food markets (a number of the city’s food markets operate under the same sort of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy with vendors as the Greenpoint market does - vendors aren’t required to show, nor generally even asked about, licenses). This is what she found out:
To keep the market functioning and to prevent the market from being not only shut down but fined (each vendor fined at a min. of $500) we need to now adhere to the following DoH requirements:
- Each vendor must produce their food at a certified commercial kitchen, whether it’s a friend’s restaurant you’re using during off hours or it’s a rental kitchen in LIC, I’ll need some sort of documentation that you’re not making food from home. A letter with the kitchen’s letterhead stating “this vendor produces food at this kitchen” would suffice.
- Each vendor must obtain their food protection certificate. The 15 hour course can be taken online for free and afterwards you take the test in Harlem for $25 and wait 2 weeks for the cert to come. If you don’t have this yet, I suggest you get on this ASAP.
- Each time a vendor participates at the market, you have to obtain a Temporary Food Establishment Permit. It’s $20 each time and involves visiting the Dept of Consumer Affairs located at 42 Broadway 5th floor. You can apply as either an individual or corporation. You will need a vendor/sponsor (me) letter of agreement which I will send out after market sign up email, which will list participating vendors for that specific date.
In light of all this, Kim is canceling the previously scheduled June 26 market. Instead, she and Griffin Thomas, pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah where the market is held, are putting together a “Think Tank Potluck,” where vendors, community members, government officials and food policy folks can come together and discuss the issues all of this has raised. Speakers will include a representative from the health department, NY City Council member Stephen Levin, Harry and Taylor of Brooklyn Kitchen, Rich Awn of Mombucha, Danielle Gould of Brooklyn Food Coalition and others. Kim says the panel will cover:
- How you know when you’ve got a viable product to start a small food business with.
- How to figure out city codes and regulations.
- How to tap into available commercial kitchen resources.
- What changes need to be made in legislation to make it more accessible to food start ups with high overhead and low profit margins.
- How possible it would be to run a non-profit incubator kitchen funded and supported by local gov that all vendors can use and can host GFM (long term project).
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