By Alex Coroleo (photo by Jasmine Moreano)
At the height of summer, hundreds of people flock to City Green Farms in Clifton, New Jersey, to shop for local organic produce. At this point in the season, the farm is a sea of green and just 50 feet from where they stand, shoppers can look over a wooden fence and see vegetables growing in the field, orbited by bees and butterflies feasting on the bounty of flowering plants. The atmosphere is relaxed and neighborly as people linger around the market, chatting with other customers or staff members, swapping recipes, or inquiring about the next event or volunteer opportunity.
For over a decade, City Green, a nonprofit urban farm, has provided high-quality organic produce at an affordable price to food-insecure neighborhoods in Northern New Jersey. Founded by Executive Director Jennifer Papa in 2004 as a community gardening organization, City Green’s mission evolved to include farming and food access in 2011, when it began leasing the long-vacant Schultheis family farm. Empty fields became lush with seasonal produce such as tomatoes, squash, melons and greens. City Green breathed new life into the agriculture scene in Clifton – a suburban city that 100 years ago was a farming hub.
In 2012, with funding from the USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program, the acquisition of a mobile market vehicle, dubbed the Veggie Mobile, allowed City Green to bring its freshly harvested produce to markets in Clifton, Paterson and Passaic. Since then, City Green’s Good Food Bucks program, the first Nutrition Incentive Program in the state, has allowed customers using federal benefits at the farm stand to double their value to purchase more fruits and vegetables. The program's efficacy is evident from its explosive popularity over the years; from 657 customers in its first year, the Veggie Mobile program has become a staple in the community, reaching more than 6,900 customers in 5 cities in 2023.
In addition to providing healthy food to its supporters, the idyllic natural landscape of City Green’s farm and gardens draws hundreds of families each year to summer festivals, kids’ nature camps and seasonal events. Located right between Route 46 and the New York skyline, surrounded by bustling cities on every side, City Green is an anomaly in this area. For some, it is the only green space they have access to.
But what happens to a community-based organization when a global health emergency makes connecting with others face-to-face inadvisable, even dangerous? In March 2020, when City Green’s Food Access Team would typically finalize its farm stand and Veggie Mobile schedules for the coming season, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to rethink their operation.
City Green’s Director of Food Access, Lisa Martin, recalls what it was like to plan that season:
“In March of 2020, when we realized things would not return to ‘normal’ anytime soon, we knew that as a local farm with a food access mission, we still had an important role in getting safe, healthy food to the community. I remember being especially concerned about the thousands of older adults who typically rely on visits from City Green’s Veggie Mobile not only for fresh produce but also for social interaction. Our team of directors went to work on a plan to keep our farm and market program intact.”
Food Is Essential. Farms Are Essential.
On March 21st, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy issued a statewide stay-at-home order and the closure of most businesses except those deemed essential. Farmers markets and farm stands were on that list.
In the months that followed, business closures, widespread layoffs, and an atmosphere of health anxiety that advised seniors and the immunocompromised not to leave home made New Jersey’s most food-insecure populations even more vulnerable. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey projected that in 2020, the state experienced a 56% increase in food insecurity, and according to Hunger Free New Jersey, statewide SNAP enrollment surged 23% at the height of the pandemic.
It was evident to City Green’s leadership that access to food was now more critical than ever - and they were determined to show up for their neighbors as safely as possible.
What Showing Up Means
“As a local food producer and food access organization, it was critical for City Green to continue supporting our community's health through the farm and market program. We doubled down on our commitment to ensuring that our farm-fresh produce could still be enjoyed, accessed, and consumed by allocating greater resources to food access. It was all hands on deck at City Green’s Farm and Markets; our education and program staff moved into farming, food production, and working the markets. We started offering customers pre-packed produce boxes that would later serve as the inspiration for our CSA program. Seeing our entire staff in the farm fields and the lines of customers waiting to pick up produce at the farm illustrated the strength and resilience of local, community-based food systems.”
Due to a hiring freeze and partner site health restrictions, City Green’s Veggie Mobile stops for the 2020 season had been cut by more than half from 2019, from 25 to 7 high-need locations.
With a crop plan meant to support a full market calendar, the farm now faced an inventory surplus. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of need. City Green strengthened collaborations with Emergency Food Providers overwhelmed with demand for fresh fruits and vegetables for their clients. Throughout the 2020 season, they supplied community food pantries with over six tons (12,560 lbs.) of fresh produce.
In June of that year, what markets remained took a semi-apocalyptic look. Staff were decked out in layers of PPE and using hand sanitizer after every interaction. An extra table lay between staff and shoppers, creating that golden six-foot distance that supposedly kept everyone safe. We implemented a pre-packaged market box program to limit physical proximity between customers and staff rather than the traditional open choice market. City Green’s team quickly established our first-ever CSA program using technology to register customers.
One benefit of the pandemic was that consumer interest in local food and agriculture was at an all-time high - subscriptions for the 23-week program sold out within 24 hours.
People Are Good for People
Studies cited by the National Farmers Market Coalition show that people experience 15-20 social interactions at a farmers market compared to 1 or 2 at the grocery store.
Despite standing 6 feet apart from every other person there, many shoppers at the City Green farm stand in 2020 appreciated these social interactions more than ever. For some, their once-weekly CSA pick-up was the only time they left the house. Even a two-minute conversation can be uplifting in a time of shared isolation.
Staff and CSA members quickly got to know each other, bonding over their love for fresh produce and sharing anxiety about the world's state. Because emotions were more challenging to read through masks, people gestured more with their hands and smiled more with their eyes. Some made light of the situation with jokes. Some shared what they planned to cook for dinner with all their veggies. The uncertainty of everyday pandemic life was redirected into excitement over broccoli and chard, collards and tomatoes.
Karen Molner, a CSA member from 2020, recalls what it was like to visit the farm at that time: "Driving down to the barn, opening the box filled with a painter's color palette of fresh, locally grown vegetables, we realized, Covid may have derailed us, [but] thanks to the skilled farmers and everyone at Clifton's City Green, there were brighter, healthier days ahead."
From the Light End of the Tunnel
In 2020, despite facing challenges it had never seen before, City Green rose to the occasion through adaptation and commitment to its customers. In addition to its valuable contributions to Emergency Food Systems, City Green saw a 37% increase in SNAP redemption at the farm stand that year - a victory for food access.
Additionally, though markets saw a 63% decrease in customers that year, implementing the CSA program allowed City Green to increase total fresh food sales by 24% from 2019.
Today, the CSA program is integral to City Green’s farm stand program. It provides valuable pre-season income for the farm and gives customers a direct connection to their local food system, creating a lasting culture of community within the organization. Some members have not missed a season since 2020.
City Green leadership, staff, CSA members, and market shoppers who have been around since then sometimes bring up the strangeness of that pandemic season. The panic of those first months now dulled with time, they laugh with relief at the relative normalcy of today - an inside joke between friends who have weathered dark times together.
Alex Caroleo, she/her, runs City Green Farm in Clifton, NJ.
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