VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Local Farmers Market Vendors Share Differing Opinions On Source Of Produce
Dhani Joseph: At CNY Regional Markets, vendors provide fruit and vegetables for the local Syracuse Community. The Kelsey Family, for example, have been in the farming business for generations, and are advocates for freshly picked, home-grown produce.
Brian Kelsey, Local Farmer: It’s a lot better to have fresh, local food for people to get here instead of having it shipped in from all over the United States. I think it’s healthier, more nutrition. As soon as you pick something, you sell it. It’s definitely more nutritious than it is being a week old.
Joseph: Although it’s called the Farmers Market, many vendors here choose to ship in produce that you can’t locally find here in Syracuse. One such vendor is D’Agostino’s, who understands that when there are demands for fruits and vegetables, they have to have the supply.
Rose Campanino, D’Agostino Produce: Home-grown is great. There’s a lot of home-grown things and we carry a lot of home-grown things. But, if someone wants lemons, we have them. If they want strawberries, blueberries, razzberries, when they’re out of season, we have them.
Joseph: Other imported goods include peaches, mangoes, and olives. All of those produce are generally grown in other states, and even other countries. But beyond just providing a variety of fruits and vegetables, Rose believes that D’Agostino’s caters to a specific demographic.
Campanino: Especially we have a lot of elderly customers that come down. They don’t want to run to five different places. They want to come to one place. So it’s nice that they can find the home-grown, and most people will support the farmers, which is great. But then they also support us, which is even nicer.
Joseph: Dhani Joseph, NCC News
Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) — CNY Regional Markets provides Syracuse locals different fruits and vegetables at their farmers market. Open on Thursdays from May to November and Saturdays and Sundays year-round, vendors from neighboring towns pick and provide fresh produce.
One such vendors are the Kesley Family. The family has been farming for generations, going back to the early 1800s, and are advocates for freshly picked, home-grown produce.
“It’s a lot better to have fresh, local food for people to get here instead of having it shipped in from all over the United States,” Brian Kelsey, who often sells the produce at the market, said. “I think it’s healthier, more nutrition. As soon as you pick something, you sell it. It’s definitely more nutritious than it is being a week old.”
Although on the surface it is called a farmers market, not all vendors actually grow all of the produce that they sell. Many of them choose to ship in produce from across the country to provide fruits and vegetables that are not local to Central New York. One such vendor is D’Agostino’s, and they understand that when there are demands for fruits and vegetables, they have to have the supply.
“Home-grown is great. There’s a lot of home-grown things and we carry a lot of home-grown things,” said Rose Campanino, one of the workers at the D’Agostino Produce table. “But, if someone wants lemons, we have them. If they want strawberries, blueberries, razzberries, when they’re out of season, we have them.”
Other produce that D’Agostino carries are peaches, mangoes, and olives. All of those fruits were shipped in from different cities around the country. But for Rose in particular, she believes that the service that D’Agostino provides caters to a specific demographic.
“Especially we have a lot of elderly customers that come down,” Campanino said. “They don’t want to run to five different places. They want to come to one place. So it’s nice that they can find the home-grown, and most people will support the farmers, which is great. But then they also support us, which is even nicer.”
The farmers market at CNY Regional Markets take place on Thursdays from May to November, as well as Saturdays and Sundays year round. The market opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m.