Presentation

This is my presentation for a field trip that I went to. I want to share this experience of learning about how food relates to our course.

I went to the Union Square Farmers Market for the field trip.
The neighborhood around Union Square consists of attractions, services, transportation stops, galleries, and schools. Vendors and farmers drive several hours from nearby states to display their products for the locals of New York and tourists. As I explore the farmers market, I went to three different storefronts and identified three different produces.
The first location that I went to was Eckerton Hill Farm. Here they offered a variety of fruits and vegetable, which they mainly sold tomatoes, greens, chilis, roots, and turnips. Everything is grown organically without any pesticides or fertilizers, however, they are not organically certified. This is also the only market that they sell at, while different distributors bring their produce for Eckerton Hill Farm sells too.
The produce that I identified was the Frost Sweetened Hakurei Turnip. Considering that their main produce was tomatoes, I found that selling these turnips were a very interesting produce to grow too. Everything is grown and harvested in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. These turnips were harvested two days prior to displaying and selling. The vendor was not able tell me more about the turnips because she said that she was not proficient enough to tell me more and that I would have to speak to the farmers. She did mention that the turnip can be eaten raw or boiled and the turnip itself is very sweet (The farmer was not there when I went so I was not able to ask more questions).
The second location I went to was Windfall Farms. They offered a variety of greens. All their produce are claimed by the farmers to be “better than” organic. They had said that when different producers, farmers, and commercially advertised organic produce are not actually organic because they use organic pesticides that contains harmful chemicals and heavy metals that we have been consuming and still consume today.
The vegetable that I identified was the White Sunchoke. Everything is grown in Montgomery, New York. This white sun choke is part of the sunflower family. It is the root of a sunflower. The roots here were picked fresh, however, when frosting season begins, the roots would be picked days prior to frosting season and placed into storage. Since roots have a long storage period, they can still be considered fresh when brought out again to sell.
The third location that I went to was Two Guys from Woodbridge. They only sold vegetables that were either prepackaged or still alive. Everything is fresh and harvested recently. The store had a very aesthetic layout, in which, all their produce was labeled with a description card that discusses the physical attributes and nutritional values of the plant.
I identified the Boston-Bibb Lettuce and its physical attributes includes it having a buttery texture and nutty flavors. Its nutritional value includes having calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins A, C, and K.
What I really found interesting about this store was that they utilize hydroponic farming. Their hydroponic farm is located in Hamden, Connecticut. A hydroponic farming method is essentially using water with high amounts of minerals and nutrients to grow crops without the use of soil. This is more environmentally friendly and provides higher nutrients. Everything is grown organically and is harvested fresh 1 to 2 days before selling. This store was very unique as they were the only store that I have seen to sell produce utilizing hydroponic farming. Overall my experience at the Union Square Farmers Market was very informational that provided a new experience to the course. I am able to articulate my experience better from this trip.