I remember watching Sex and the City before I lived in NYC and they would joke how “you’d better go to this restaurant before the Times writes it up and ruins it.” I had no idea how literally that is true.

The Greenpoint Food Market is a fabulous indie food market started by Joann Kim in Greenpoint, Brooklyn last fall. It was held in the basement of the Church of the Messiah on Russell Street. Joann ran it under the radar of the department of health and NY licensing, in that no one needed proof of food licensing, the food being prepared in a licensed kitchen, or liability insurance. Technically it was all “illegal” but I think all of us accepted the risks of such an undertaking.  On a realistic note, when was the last time you ever heard of someone getting sick from Farmer’s Market or foodie market food? It’s all my friends and I live on most weekends.

I discovered Greenpoint Food Market last fall because of my foodie friend Meg and was pleased to see all sorts of up-and-coming treatmakers taking advantage of the low barrier to entry (only $20 a table) to get their food experiments out to the public. I had planned to do a booth of my marshmallows when I got my chocolate tempering machine in order, but decided to do a trial run with some other baked goods and frosting shots in April 2010. It was a fabulous experience. I met people who were serious, and treatmakers who were just doing it for “shits and giggles” on the weekends. Joann did a great job of picking new and interesting vendors, and it was always fun to see the new food every month.

But it couldn’t last…the word had gotten out about the fair, and in May 2010, the New York Times visited and wrote an article. Because of the publicity, the Department of Health got wind of the “illegal” setup, and warned Joann and the vendors that fines would be rained down (each vendor fined at a minimum of $500) if vendors did not comply with DOH regulations for food preparation and sale.  For most vendors (myself included), this effectively means no more Food Market.

What It’s Going To Cost Vendors Now

Besides the costs of ingredients and labor, to sell food legally at the market the following rules must now be followed:

• Certificate that food has been prepared in a licensed kitchen, which involves commercial kitchen rental time (varies, but can be $300 for a few hour shift)
• Food protection certificate (must taken an online 15 hr class, then get certificate for $25)
• The vendor needs to get a “temporary food vendor permit” EACH TIME he sells ($20 a pop)
• Food booth costs ($20 and up)
• Product liability insurance (minimum $300/year)-not required by Greenpoint Food Market, but it’s advised you do it to cover your ass

Obviously the biggest cost in this is commercial kitchen rental time. I had done a little research when I arrived in NYC, and was saddened to see how expensive it was. I would only need two hours every few weeks, and $300 would in fact put me in the hole profit-wise, since I’m only doing it on the side.

Why It Sucks To Lose Greenpoint Food Market

The big need that Greenpoint Market filled was an “experimental space” small food vendors need when they are first starting out. They can put out their product and see if it’s even viable. Your family and friends might think you make the best brownie in town, but everyone loves something when it’s free. Would someone pay for it, over and over? Is it different enough from other brownies that you could make a profit?

I think the Greenpoint market served another set: those of us are just doing this for fun and wanted an outlet to spread our goodies to excited consumers. I don’t have world domination plans for my marshmallows. I don’t have a desire to see them in every Target or Walmart (Dean & Deluca, maybe).

It makes me want to start a Renegade Food Market of sorts. Much like the underground raw milk scene in New York, you’d need to “know someone” to get into it. We’d have an exclusive list, and you’d only be notified of the fair location a day or so in advance. We’d have it in different locations every time. And we’d advertise it as something non food-related, like “Ham Radio Operator’s League #12.” I’m still sketching it out.

On a happier note – there are some initiatives going on locally in Brooklyn to get running some affordable incubator kitchen spaces for small vendors. There will be a Think Tank Potluck on June 26 to discuss these new rules and some options coming up. I’ll be attending and will report on the results!

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at 7:12 pm and is filed under Food, New York stories. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.