CYPRESS HILLS — A new weekly farmers market is set to open in Cypress Hills on Tuesday, offering affordable, healthy produce to people living in nearby communities.
The Pitkin Verde Farmers Market will launch outside the East New York Diagnostic & Treatment Center, complete with African drum and dance performances, face painting, interactive cooking demonstrations and food tastings.
The market is a result of a partnership between the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation.
The groups want to integrate wellness and “move the needle on poverty” in high-need areas through healthy food programs and sustainability projects, according to Colleen Flynn, director of programs for LISC NYC.
Tuesday’s inaugural event will focus on those healthy programs including on-site cooking and nutrition sessions. Physicians from the treatment center will also write “prescriptions” for families to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Shoppers will be able to use NYC Health Bucks from the city’s Health Department, along with SNAP and WIC coupons.
The Pitkin Verde Market follows in the footsteps of a youth farmers market on Fulton and Richmond streets, run for the past five years by CHLDC.
“We hire from the neighborhood and have had a lot of success,” said Shai Lauros, the group’s director of community development. “We saw a lot of demand for a new market.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will join organizers Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. for the opening outside 2094 Pitkin Ave.
The farmers market will operate each Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through November.
