© NewtonCourt
Boston Public Market
A place to connect and learn
by Melissa Rowe
I
must admit, I only recently discovered the Boston Public Market. Now this is not to be confused with the Boston Public Gardens or Haymarket, both wonderful places in their own right. Boston Public Market is new... just a little more than a year old. It’ s located right in the heart of the city, a stone’ s throw from Faneuil Hall, the North End, and Government Center. And it’ s well worth a visit!
Boston Public Market has created a permanent retail space for local farmers, fish mongers, butchers, cheesemakers, beekeepers, artisans and more. This is their storefront … and more than 40 New England vendors, the vast majority hailing from Massachusetts, are calling it home. Some of the booths are manned by farmers themselves, all feature locally grown or sourced products, and everything is at the peak of freshness, often picked that very morning. It’ s like the very best farmer ' s market, but open
18 GROW! BOSTON every day of the year. BPM operates as a non-profit and through a variety of sources supports local food producers and entrepreneurs. They seek to educate, inform and influence change.
I reached out to the CEO, Cheryl Cronin, to talk about the changes afoot.
Q: Do you think the way that we’ re procuring our food is changing? And how is it changing?
A: Absolutely. Consumers are much more focused on the foods that we are putting into our bodies, from a health and a taste perspective. And we recognize that what we do and how we live impacts the rest of the world. When we support local food producers, entrepreneurs, farmers and fishers, it helps our communities and the greater local economy. This has resulted in a greater focus on locally produced food.
Q: What do we need to do to be more successful?
A: There ' s no doubt in my mind, and we see it at the market, that we need to provide very good support to local food producers and farmers. It’ s really tough to run a farm. And it’ s really tough to start a small food business. To expect folks in that situation to compete early with big food producers, means that they will never have enough of an opportunity. So we need to be supportive financially and otherwise.
Q: How are you providing that support?
A: The Boston Public Market was built with half state dollars and half from private donors. In addition to providing the consumer with great, healthy local food, we intend to provide small farmers and local food entrepreneurs with economic opportunity. That is a core part of our mission.