Free produce market opens at Newfield Central School

Newfield Central School has been growing gardens for a number of years now, and the hope is a new initiative will help diversify its harvest in the future. Newfield Harvest, a free produce market at the school, opened for the first time July 28, with 55 bags of fresh produce presented to people who came out.

“The green beans were a big hit; the zucchini was a big hit, too,” said Robin Cook, Newfield’s school lunch specialist and head cook. “We want everybody to come out and get fresh produce.”

The Newfield Harvest market will run twice more this summer — from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Aug. 11 and 25 — coinciding with the Mill Park Music Series.

“That’s why we picked these dates,” said Andrew Battles, a Newfield High School teacher who runs the school garden program. “We thought it would be cool for people to come get food and then head to the park to hear some music.”

Battles said there are two students who have been hired through Tompkins Workforce NY to take care of the garden during the summer. The market program, which was initiated in Groton and first opened in Trumansburg, is being supported through grant funding from the Park Foundation.

“We’re trying to get more healthy food into the schools and the community,” Battles said of the aim of the market. “And we want to remove the stigma of free food for people.”

In addition to creating an opportunity for members of the Newfield community to get fresh produce, he hopes it opens pathways for expanding the school garden programs.

“Hopefully, we will be able to tap into those resources to get more development with the garden program. I would love to get a courtyard renovation into a garden,” Battles said. “There is a door that opens up to the home and career classroom. I would love for them to be able to open the door and get things from the garden for what they are making.”

He also noted the Groton Harvest program made smoothies for breakfast in the morning, offered produce samples in the cafeteria and sent recipe cards home with students.

“The market is sort of a kickoff,” Battles said. “Moving forward into the fall, we’re trying to get into some larger things. I would love to put berry bushes on campus and make smoothies with berries grown on campus. We have a lot of ideas that we are coming up with that we will then try to scale down into something that is achievable.”

He is hopeful that the market will continue in some capacity during the school year as well.

“We figured we would start small, see how it goes and learn from it. Depending on how things go, we would like to continue to do it through the school year,” Battles said. “It sounds like that is possible. The Food Bank of the Southern Tier has been great. They said, ‘Let us know how often you want to do it, and we’ll drop the stuff off.’ I would love to see it grow more and be more of an event.”

Helena Griffin, a senior at Newfield Central School, said she is a part of the school garden club and volunteered for Newfield Harvest after Battles asked students if they would be interested. Another Newfield senior, Aiden Gaydos, said he likes being a part of the garden club because it is “nice to be outside.”

“I know a lot of people that have come,” he said. “It is nice to see them come out.”

“I just wanted to help because they needed help,” added Newfield junior Meadow Weaver.

Griffin, who is also working the summer camp program taking place at the school, said the market was very busy when those students were getting picked up around 4:30 p.m. Her hope for what people get from the market is for those who may not have had experience with it to discover fresh produce.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity for people who may not get fresh food to have a chance to get some,” Griffin said.

She relayed a story about some of the students at the summer camp not knowing what a bell pepper was.

“I brought one in for them to try, and a lot of them wound up liking it a lot,” Griffin said. “I hope people can try new, healthy things [by coming to the market].”

“I hope they can feel more community,” Gaydos added.

Battles also hopes the Newfield Harvest program builds a sense of community in town.

“In an area like Newfield, it is a small community,” he said. “School is often the hub of the community, and the Newfield community has been amazing and supportive of everything we have tried to do [with the school garden program]. We want to try to make this grow into an event that will be a lot of fun for people and that will get people free produce and promote healthy choices in the community.”

IN BRIEF:

Communitywide yard, library book sales

The 18th annual community garage and yard sales will take place throughout Newfield on Aug. 14.

Organizer Heather Amici is compiling a list of sales taking place, which will go into a book people can pick up the day of the sale at 363 Main St. In addition to listings for each of the sales, there will be a map pointing people where to go.

“We don’t show each property, but we show all the roads so people know where the sales are,” Amici said.

There is still time for people to have their sale listed in the official book for a fee of $5 to help cover the cost of producing the advertising publication. People should contact Amici by Aug. 11 to be included. She can be reached at (607) 280-3155 or hamici5@htva.net.

In addition to the yard and garage sales, the Newfield Public Library will be hosting a book sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 14. The sale will take place at the library at 198 Main St., and the Newfield Central School Sports Booster Club will have a chicken barbecue the same day starting at 11 a.m. at the Newfield Fire Hall.

If you have Newfield news you would like to share, contact Rob Montana at rob.j.montana@gmail.com.