50 Years of Greenmarket: Why Hulken Showed Up on a Rainy Monday Morning

Celebrating 50 Years of Fresh Food, Local Farmers, and NYC Community

That’s the Greenmarket we wanted to spend time with.

This Earth Month, we partnered with GrowNYC, the nonprofit behind the Greenmarket network, as they mark 50 years of connecting New Yorkers with regional farmers and producers. We joined them for a morning at Union Square, following a team member through their day and getting a closer look at how it all comes together.

How It All Started

In early 1976, Barry and Bob dreamed of addressing the city's pressing needs for fresh food, open space, and revitalized urban-rural connections.

This year their dream turned 50!

Greenmarket began with a simple idea. In the 1970s, access to fresh, local food in New York City was limited, and many farms across the Northeast were looking for more direct ways to reach customers. The first Greenmarket brought those two sides together, one market, set up in a parking lot. Over time, that idea grew into something much bigger. Today, Greenmarket operates more than 45 markets across the city, connecting millions of New Yorkers with over 190 regional farmers and producers. Across the seasons, thousands of varieties of fruits, vegetables, and goods make their way into the city, each one coming directly from the people who grow or make them.

That direct connection has remained at the center of Greenmarket from the very beginning.

How Greenmarket Supports Everyday Life

Greenmarket is something many New Yorkers return to week after week, but its impact goes beyond what you see at each stand. Across the city, familiar public spaces become places where people can shop for fresh food close to home. At the same time, regional farms have a consistent way to connect directly with their customers. GrowNYC, the organization behind Greenmarket, serves millions of New Yorkers each year. Through its food access programs, fresh food reaches communities across the city, and nutrition benefits help make shopping at the market more accessible. What started as a local solution has, over time, helped shape how farmers' markets operate more broadly.

Did you know?

There are 45+ seasonal and year-round Greenmarkets across NYC with over 190+ regional farmers and producers
Everything sold is grown, raised, or made by the vendors
The markets support 49,000 acres of farmland across the Northeast
You can enjoy 6,000+ unique varieties of fruits and vegetables

Why This Matters to Hulken

Hulken has always felt connected to places like Greenmarket. Our bags often find their way there, filled with groceries, moving through city streets, part of people’s everyday routines. It’s something we’ve noticed over time, simply by seeing how people use them. What resonates most is the shared approach to daily life. Greenmarket is built on simple, practical habits: shopping locally, carrying what you need, and making use of what you already have.

Those choices may feel small, but they shape how a city functions. Spending time at the market was a way for us to see that system more closely, and to highlight the people who keep it going.

From 49,000 acres of farmland to a rainy morning in Union Square.

This is what local actually looks like.

A Morning at Union Square

We spent a Monday morning at the Union Square Greenmarket, following a GrowNYC team member through their routine. The day started early, with vendors setting up and preparing for the hours ahead. Even with the rain, everything moved steadily, conversations picked up where they left off, regulars stopped by, and the market gradually filled in.

There’s a natural rhythm to it. Vendors talk about what they’ve brought in, what’s in season, and what’s coming next. Customers move from stand to stand, building their weekly shop. You can feel the connection between where the food comes from and where it’s going. It becomes clearer the longer you spend there. We’re grateful we had the chance to experience it firsthand. If you haven’t been to a Greenmarket recently, it’s worth a visit!

How You Can Get Involved

Getting involved is one of the easiest ways to support stronger, healthier communities across NYC. Whether you give monthly, stay connected through our newsletters, or help spread the word, your support helps fund education, food access, agriculture, and green space initiatives that make a real difference.