All the World Feeds New York, Annual Report 1923

Only 12% of food consumed in New York City was produced in New York State

Pushcart peddler, Lower East Sideearly 1900s

Pushcarts were among dominant retails forms in working class neighborhoods

Department of Public Markets, Map of Out Door (Pushcart) Markets, 1923 Annual Report

During WWI, the NY Federal Food Board, led by NYC’s first Markets Commissioner, organized educational exhibits

New York City – threat of civic unrest

“As I see the hundreds of thousands of hungry people in this city, I wonder why the people of New York, and especially those of affluence, do not realize this condition cannot go on forever. Those people are not going to sit by idly while Rolls Royces and other big cars roll comfortably down Fifth Avenue.”

NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, inauguration speech, 1934

“…in food as in many other essential commodities of life, the battle between capital at one extreme and labor at the other has resulted in a gradual but positive indifference to the plight of the great mass of the population which stands in between.”

NYC Commissioner of Markets, William F. Morgan, Jr, 1934

New York City’s enclosed public retail markets were located in working class neighborhoods with high percentages of foreign-born

M. Gittleman, 2012

First Avenue Retail Market, opened in 1938

At East 10th Street, replaced First Avenue pushcart market that extendedfrom 1st to 14th Streets (photography 1967, Jack O’Brien, LOC)

Thirteenth Avenue Retail Market, opened in October 1939

Between 39th & 42nd Streets, Brooklyn

15,000 sq/feet and 137 stands

Building now used as grocery store,

Italian grocer in the First Avenue Market, 1943

Photographer, Marjory Collins, US Library of Congress

Frances Foley Gannon, Deputy CommissionerDepartment of Public Markets and Weights and Measures,

The goal was to “bring the consumer to an intelligent understanding of herself as a purchasing agent, and to aid her in getting the most and the best for her money” (Foley Gannon 1934)

Consumers as political force / purchasing power as policy issue

Museum of the City of New York

L & R Sol Libsohn, 1938

On Aspragus: Excerpts from 8:45am Broadcast, WYNC

“Due to the large scale production methods and transportation facilities of modern times, this vegetable reaches us garden fresh well ahead of our spring season.

Within a few weeks, when nearby farms hit their seasonal peak, these delicious green spears should be priced low enough to make generous use of them in our menus.”

When purchasing asparagus, “remember that freshness is one of the prime requisites of quality. So, select bunches of straight, fresh and crisp stalks…Another indication of freshness is the ‘crackle’ or squeaking sound which occurs when a little pressure is applied to the bunch.”

Harlem Market opens in 1955, and closes 3 years later.

By the mid 1950s, the enclosed public markets were no longer viewed as modern, but as vestiges of immigrant

life.

Supermarkets were the new standard bearer, in the Department of Markets’ view. (Grocery stores had

coexisted with public markets for nearly a century.)

Equity and sustainability could be reinforcing goals…

M. Gittleman, 2012

“Closely allied with the preservation of life is that of health, and the chief guarantee of the latter is the maintaining of a constant supply of sound,

wholesome and nutritious foods.”

“To eat food is a necessity. To know how and what to eat is simply an intelligent application of the knowledge one obtains of the nutritious quality of foods and

the scientific combining of them. Therefore a knowledge of how, when and what to buy is most essential.”

New York City Department of Public Markets1929 Annual Report