Thanksgiving Market to highlight PressBay, Food Hub

The holidays will look different this year for many of us. Health concerns mean that gatherings will be smaller, and travel restrictions mean that people will be staying home and preparing a meal themselves, many for the first time. Whatever your celebration looks like this year, the Thanksgiving Market at PressBay on Nov. 24 from 3:30 to 7 p.m. will have everything you need for your 2020-style feast.

A pop-up farmer’s market featuring local meats, produce, cheeses and more in a convenient downtown Ithaca location, this is one tradition you won’t want to miss. Past years’ holiday markets have had a festive atmosphere under PressBay’s twinkling lights. Melissa Madden, manager at Urban Core and director of the PressBay Food Hub, said that she’s sought to maintain that vibe this year, with some necessary adjustments.

“There will still be prepared food and drink available and live music,” Madden said. “We did cut back the number of outside vendors and spread most of them out in the Geneva Street parking lot to reduce the density.”

Madden said that the additional space and change in flow would allow customers to maintain a safe 6-foot distance. Masks will be required, indoors and out.

“We really wanted to put the focus on our tenant businesses and Food Hub farmers this year,” Madden said. “The people who make regular use of this space and contribute to its well-being should get the full benefit of the market.”

Storefronts in PressBay Alley and PressBay Court off Green Street will be open for business. Look for favorites like warm brioche from One Ring Donuts, steaming hand pies (or frozen pies to take home) from Mama Said, pints of beer and cider from Lucky Hare and hot coffee from Press Cafe.

Patrons of the Food Hub’s weekly food distribution will be familiar with the variety of products available from regular local suppliers like Plenty of Posies and Nine-Four Wines. Guest vendor Wide Awake Bakery will offer a selection of freshly baked bread, while Stick and Stone Farm will bring an abundance of late-harvest greens and root veggies. Turkeys are available from Bluebird Dream Farm, Heritage Haus and Park Hill Poultry.

A full list of market vendors and participating farms is available on the website (https://pressbayalley.com/events/). Customers are encouraged to pre-order to expedite pickup (especially turkeys and frozen pies), but direct on-site sales are available for most items.
Madden said that the Thanksgiving Market has been around for a while but has evolved from its humble beginnings.

“I actually started a small version of the market as a farmer who needed to sell my turkeys almost 10 years ago,” Madden said.

Cornell Cooperative Extension expressed an interest in taking over the market after the first few years. In cooperation with John Guttridge, founder of real estate development firm Urban Core, the market moved to PressBay and expanded to feature farms that otherwise didn’t get a lot of exposure.

“It’s kind of a funny coincidence that I’m back managing the market now as part of my duties with Urban Core,” Madden said.

Food Hub and Free Food Pantry

Madden said she was hired by Urban Core to work on a project still in development, an urban farm and hospitality center at the end of Cherry Street in Ithaca focusing on “food access, food justice and food production.”

She is hopeful that the vision will eventually come to fruition but expects that it is at least three years out. In the meantime, she is putting her expertise and connections with the farming community to good use at their PressBay location.

“The Food Hub at PressBay is a microcosm of what we hope to do at Cherry Street,” Madden said, referring to the weekly food aggregation and distribution program she’s been running since March 2020.

Food Hub customers order products directly from participating farms using their online platforms. Food is then dropped off and orders assembled by Food Hub staff members for pickup at PressBay on Thursdays between 4 and 7 p.m.

“I originally came up with the idea for the Food Hub based on my experience as a farmer and what their needs are,” Madden said. “The low-contact distribution method turned out to be a COVID-appropriate response for consumers as well.”

Seeing an increased need in the community as a result of the pandemic, Madden partnered with the Friendship Donation Network to add a Free Food Pantry at the Food Hub on Mondays from 3 to 5 p.m. starting in April 2020.

“Probably 80 to 90% of the food offered at the pantry comes from the Friendship Donation Network, with the remainder donated by Food Hub vendors,” Madden said. “Anything left over at the end of the day goes to Loaves and Fishes. Nothing is wasted.”

Originally distributed curbside, the pantry has now moved indoors. Patrons enter through the PressBay Court vestibule with their bag and mask, make their selections with the assistance of staff members and exit onto Green Street. Limited access and one-way flow keep exposure to a minimum.

COVID and Beyond

One of the biggest challenges Madden has faced in setting up the Food Hub and Free Food Pantry is learning how to say no.

“We’ve committed to not charging farmers for our services through March of 2021 because of COVID. As a result, we need to keep our operation very lean,” Madden said. “We aren’t set up to take orders or handle money, and I’ve had to hold that line so as not to incur an avalanche of administrative obligations.”

Madden said that volunteers came forward without hesitation in the spring to work with her assembling and distributing orders, but they couldn’t continue to work without pay forever.

“I launched a GoFundMe campaign [https://gf.me/u/yp76bs] to offset expenses and pay the workers who make this possible,” Madden said. “I’ll be looking at restructuring our funding for 20 [to] 21, partnering with Groundswell and pursuing some low-interest loans, but for now this is what we have to work with and every little bit helps.”