Down these green streets: as farmers' markets grow, more people of color are getting a healthier bite of life.

On any given Saturday morning between the months of July and November, the members of the Lower East Side Girls' Club won't be found sleeping in or talking on the phone like their peers. Instead they are up early selling baby lettuces, sweet peaches and crunchy granola to their mostly low-income Manhattan neighbors. The 15 members of the recreational organization run a successful summer farmers' market, which is proving to be an indelible staple in the community. Shoppers come from blocks away to experience the fresh produce, fragrant pies and warm spirit the market offers.

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The nine-year-old organization launched its market, located on Houston Street and nestled between the Jacob Riis and Baruch Housing Projects, in 2002. "We started the farmers' market with a grant from the USDA," says Lyn Pentecost, the Club's executive director. "One of the main reasons was because we were very concerned with the state of our girls' health." In 2002, among female youth, the highest overweight and obesity prevalence is found in black and Latina girls, ages six to 11 (37.6 percent and 22.2 percent respectively), and black and Latina adolescent females (45.5 percent and 26.6 percent), according to the American Obesity Association.

The girls, who range in age from 14 to 18, are mostly Latina and black, and from the nearby housing projects. Their Girls' Club not only teaches them about the importance of living a healthful life, but it also gives them a much-needed outlet that keeps them off of the streets and out of trouble. Working the farmers' market instills a sense of pride in themselves and for their community. They also receive a stipend for their labor. "These girls are actually running the market and building relationships with the farmers," says Bob Lewis, of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The Girls' Club market is unusual but not alone. A similar market, called Added Value, is run by young black men in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It sells everything from Japanese eggplant to snap peas. "There are not too many [groups] doing this because it's about community service: bringing fresh produce to underserved communities that are perceived as unsafe or too poor by the larger markets," says Pentecost. "This requires an insider's perspective and willingness to work alongside the farmer all day, introducing him to friends and neighbors."

Farmers' Market Growth

Turnout at the girl's market has been strong. On a good day, the market could see about 200 visitors. Just being a part of the farmers' market business is a feat for the Girls' Club. According to Joan Shaffer, spokesperson at the USDA, farmers' markets generate approximately $1 billion in annual retail sales, creating a profitable marketing venue for many small to medium-sized farmers. "We've seen a steady increase in new farmers' markets opening each year over the past decade, and this trend is likely to continue into the foreseeable future," Shaffer says.

In 2004, out of the 3,100 markets in the United States, there were 315 farmers' markets in New York state, with 64 of those in New York City, up 50 percent from a decade ago. That's a significant improvement, considering that in 1970, there were only six in New York City and 10 in the entire state.

There's a need for such markets in areas of color, where oftentimes the supermarkets and corner stores contain old, unappealing and anything-but-nutritious fruits and vegetables. "Shoppers are pretty grateful to have us in their neighborhood. We're benefiting the community because we're giving them access to fresh produce," says Pentecost. "You know what's in these bodegas--it's pathetic. The food looks tired, and there are a lot of things you just can't get there. We have produce that's in season. You can get a fresh peach that's dripping with sweetness. Do you know that there's a lot of people who don't know what a fresh peach, a fresh blueberry or corn that was picked that morning tastes like?"

Cultivating Communities

On a windy, cold Saturday afternoon in early February, Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza market is buzzing with shoppers: young, old, mostly white, but also black, Hispanic, blue-collar, white-collar, students and retirees. The vendors are trying to sell what they can--the winter months are not kind to them. This time of year means fewer shoppers and less money in their pockets. But that doesn't stop Sheri (who asked that her last name not be used), the only black farmer out there. Sheri is freezing, but she doesn't let the shoppers know that. She greets them all with a bright smile and warm wave. "I've been coming out here for about two years," she says and points to her table, lined up with pleasant houseplants and herbs.

Competition is stiff among the vendors, but Sheri says she makes a decent profit at the market. It doesn't bother her that she is the only black vendor or that most of her customers are white, or that her stand is located in one of the most predominately white sections of Brooklyn.

But things are a little different when she sets up her stand at the 125th Street farmers' market in Harlem during the summer. "I don't make as much money at the 125th market in Harlem," Sheri says. "I guess it's an income thing. When you see the customers at the market they're mostly buying the fruit with their WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) checks. But you have to use cash to buy my plants so we don't make any money there." Sheri's houseplants go for about $5 each, while her herbs like oregano, sage and thyme are $4.

Sheri may not benefit from markets like the one on 125th Street, but just the fact that people in these communities are visiting the markets, with the opportunity to use their WIC stipends (more than half of farmers' markets participate in WIC, food stamp and local and/or state nutrition programs, according to the USDA) to purchase fresh food is a sign of change. When at one time low-income people of color had to rely almost entirely on limited choices at corner bodegas and inadequate supermarkets, they can now select from the healthful varieties of fruits and vegetables at their local farmers' markets.

The WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) provides supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education at no cost to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and to infants and children up to five years of age. Established by Congress over 10 years ago, the FMNP's goal is to provide fresh, unpackaged, locally grown fruits and vegetables to WIC recipients and to expand the awareness of, use of and sales at farmers' markets.

"It's clear that in disadvantaged neighborhoods people have less money to spend and [that] there may be an educational gap in respect to how to prepare and select and use fresh produce," says Lewis. "That's why the FMNP is very popular. It's led to a lot of dietary change and exposure to fruit and vegetables."

Despite the small number of farmers' markets in communities of color in New York City, the ones that exist have had a positive impact. Programs like the Lower East Side Girls' Club and Added Value are changing the teenagers who participate in them, by not only giving them entrepreneurial skills, but also introducing them to a healthy lifestyle, which they can pass onto their families and the people in their communities. "These teens are having a great time. Believe it or not, we have some who are now vegetarians," says Pentecost. "Running the market helps them look at food in a different way. We're changing their eating habits and introducing them to things they never knew about, because if they don't change now, it's harder later."

LaShieka Hunter is an assistant health editor for Essence magazine and a freelance writer. She resides in Long Island, New York.