Q: How do you inform the public about what you’ re doing at BPM?
A: We do a lot of educational and community engagement programming in our kitchen space. We have a demonstration kitchen, which we run with our collaborative partners, and the Trustees. And we also constantly do education in the market. We love bringing school kids in. We give them tours of the market. We teach them about healthy eating. That’ s a core part of our mission as well; educating the public, families, kids, about how important it is to eat well. There are studies about the link between nutrition and learning, so that’ s really important to us.
Q: Who has been coming to the market?
A: It’ s a real range. We find there are more women than men, maybe 60 / 40. There are a lot of residents, Millennials, but also people who are older and live in the city, because either they’ ve always lived in the city, or they moved into the city after they’ ve become empty nesters. Visitors stop in too.
Q: What demographic group do you think will be most influential in driving the change in the way we procure food?
A: Women are always influential. Women often make choices about what their family eats. When I had my first child, I started reading the baby food labels and I was shocked by the horrible things that the typical company puts in their food. I think that’ s a common story … beginning to notice food labels, realizing what’ s going into food, and wanting to feed your family in a healthy way.
Q: How do we change the mindsets of consumers?
A: Education. We’ ve seen dramatic changes and improvement in how educated consumers are about food now. And there ' s a much greater consumer demand for good food than there used to be. In the old days, it was all about price. And now, there ' s a real debate about whether, at the end of the day, it might first and foremost be about taste and quality.
We also educate consumers about health issues related to food and what we eat. Obviously, all the conversation around obesity, and particularly obesity of children, makes everybody more conscious.
Q: What are your long-term goals for Boston Public Market?
A: First and foremost, we want to create a market that serves the agricultural and New England economy in general, where farmers and food producers can be financially healthy. And, in turn, create a market that the consumer wants to experience. The market is a civic space. It’ s a grocery store. But it’ s also much more than both of those things. It’ s a really nice experience to meet the maker of the food that you are ultimately going to buy and eat. And that’ s a unique experience that you really don’ t get in other places.
If consumers in Boston continue to support Boston Public Market it will thrive, grow, and expand. Similar marketplaces will appear throughout the country, and more people will have access to wholesome local food. It may be a little more expensive, or slightly less convenient, but as Cheryl so aptly stated,“ With food, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.”
Boston Public Market
100 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02108 Monday- Saturday: 8am-8pm Sunday: 10am-8pm bostonpublicmarket. org
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GROW! BOSTON
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