Residents line up at City Harvest’s mobile market in the Melrose neighborhood, where fresh food is distributed twice a month.
Photo Emily Swanson
The Melrose neighborhood Mobile Market is celebrating 20 years of bringing fresh produce and nutritious recipe ideas to residents in the South Bronx and beyond, while acknowledging the unfortunate reality that demand for its services is greater than ever.
The market, run by the non-profit organization Urban Harvestis set up twice a month and serves approximately 500 households each time. The organization brings “saved” food from farms, retailers and restaurants that would otherwise be thrown away — a common consequence of the country’s “mass production,” said Pedro Urbaez, who oversees food distribution for City Harvest.
The bright green tents, old music and pallets stacked high with produce have the feel of a farmers market in the fall, except for the huge line. When the Bronx Times visited on October 23, hundreds of people were waiting in the street with carts and large bags, ready to be filled with orange bell peppers, bananas, bunches of kale, apple juice boxes and broccoli.
Local anti-hunger organizations have reported a dramatic increase in needs since the pandemic, even among families who have never experienced food insecurity before. Pantry visits in New York City are the highest ever, with an average monthly visit increase of 82% compared to 2019, according to a recent City Harvest report.
Mobile markets are “not a traditional pantry,” Urbaez said. Instead of receiving a mystery bag, people can get up close and personal with the food, ask questions and learn delicious, healthy ways to prepare their ingredients.
Although the market in Melrose is the organization’s oldest, City Harvest has mobile markets in all five boroughs. The newest, located in the nonprofit’s offices in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, quickly became its largest, serving about 1,000 families at a time, Urbaez said.
Since 2020, City Harvest has stopped registering people and checking whether they live in the area. “We don’t turn anyone away,” Urbaez said.
The cooking demonstrations are crucial in making the experience dignified, while also ensuring that more food doesn’t go to waste simply because people don’t know what to do with it, he said. Learning and trying new things is all part of the plan. “We introduce people to foods they are not used to or may not buy themselves,” says Urbaez.
The demo station offered samples of a warm salad of steamed broccoli and peppers dressed with olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, honey and salt – a recipe newly improvised by culinary educator Geraldine Fermin. “I came up with this recipe this morning,” she said.
Fermin said the markets offer recipes and samples, and the website has one-pagers on how to store and prepare different ingredients.
Susan Boyd, a Melrose resident for 50 years, is one of many who appreciate City Harvest’s efforts to feed and educate the community. Boyd, who retired from the city Department of Social Services, has volunteered for her local mobile market for its entire two decades of existence, she told the Bronx Times.
“This is my neighborhood. I want to help my neighbors,” she said.
Boyd has become a fixture in City Harvest’s work. During the Bronx Times visit, she handed out bunches of kale and waved to neighbors and staffers, all of whom seemed to know her.
Residents often line up three hours earlier — at 6:30 a.m. — on market days, and some chained their carts to the fence to keep their place in line, Boyd said.
“I’m so glad City Harvest is doing this,” she said. “They have been consistent for so many years.”
While volunteering, Boyd said she also loaded food boxes for neighbors who couldn’t leave the house or push a heavy cart.
“Our neighborhood needs this. I hope they continue forever,” she said.
Urbaez said City Harvest has been extra busy, not only with food distribution, but also with advocating for policies around housing and other needs. That’s because food insecurity is tied to every aspect of people’s lives, Urbaez said. “If someone is worried about paying their light bill, they’re not going to eat.”
In the coming years, City Harvest Mobile Markets will continue to fill the gaps in neighborhoods like Melrose.
“We’re going to be here until we don’t have to be here anymore,” Urbaez said.
In addition to the Melrose location, City Harvest operates a mobile market near St. Mary’s Park in the parking lot adjacent to 595 Trinity Ave. See them website for dates and times.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
