QUEENS CO., N.Y. — Queens County Farm Museum announces the opening of two off-site Farmstands in Queens this week to make farm fresh food more accessible to New Yorkers. Traveling less than eight miles, Queens Farm’s produce will be available at the Queens Borough Hall Farmstand in partnership with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Farmstand in partnership with Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Each farmstand will be open weekly for 21 weeks, weather permitting, offering over 200 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers grown at Queens County Farm Museum.
Queens Farm implements regenerative farming methods and is shortening the distance from farm to fork while expanding access to farm fresh food. Each Farmstand will feature a schedule of live cooking demonstrations and tastings in addition to free recipes, food storage instructions and United States Department of Agriculture MyPlate Tips Sheets to encourage healthy eating. Queens Farm will accept multiple forms of nutrition assistance benefits at each farmstand including WIC, FMNP Checks, Health Bucks and Fresh Connect Checks along with cash, credit and debit cards. In addition, each farmstand will serve as a food scrap drop off location to encourage community composting.
Queens Borough Hall Farmstand, located at 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, NY, opens Thursday, June 16, 2022 and will be open every Thursday through November 3rd from 10:00 am–3:00 pm. Centrally located, the Borough Hall farmstand is accessible from the E/F train, LIRR, three highways – Grand Central, Jackie Robinson and Van Wyck Parkways – and 16 MTA bus stops less than one mile from Queens Borough Hall. This partnership with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards supports the Borough President’s work on Operation Urban Sustainability as Borough Present Richards works to make Queens greener, healthier and more sustainable for all those that live, work, play and stay in Queens.
The Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Farmstand will be open on Fridays beginning Friday, June 17th through November 4, 2022, 10:00 am–3:00 pm. The Farmstand will be located in front of Jamaica Hospital’s WIC Clinic at 134-20 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY. Jamaica, Queens is a noted “food swamp” by Public Health Solutions in a report released in March 2018. Food swamps, as defined by the report, are neighborhoods where fast food and junk food outlets outnumber healthy alternatives. Jamaica Hospital is committed to providing health and wellness programs to its service area and found a natural partner with Queens County Farm Museum for this program.
“We are celebrating our 325th anniversary of continuous farming this year as New York City looks toward the New Agrarian Economy,” stated Jennifer Walden Weprin, Executive Director of the Queens County Farm Museum. “As part of this anniversary, Queens Farm is undertaking the largest agricultural expansion in over 50 years, prioritizing food work and green workforce development. Our partnerships with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center support Mayor Adams’s initiatives to get New Yorkers to eat their veggies!”
“I couldn’t be more excited to partner with the incredible team at the Queens County Farm Museum to bring back the Queens Borough Hall Farmstand for a second straight year,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “The farmstand was a hit with the community and even members of my staff in 2021 with its wide array of locally grown produce, and I look forward to helping connect Central Queens residents and Borough Hall guests with fresh food all summer long. Thank you to the Queens County Farm Museum for its unending dedication to the health and wellness of our families across The World’s Borough.”
“Jamaica Hospital is thrilled to partner for the fourth consecutive season with Queens County Farm Museum who brings hyper-local fresh produce to our campus. Our employees, patients and community can’t wait for the Farmstand to open,” stated Anne Corrigan, Director of Planning at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
These two off-site farmstands complement Queens Farm’s on-site farmstand which is open Wednesday through Friday, 11:00 am–3:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm through November 6, 2022. Queens County Farm Museum is one of the longest continually farmed sites in New York State as documented by New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets. This year it is celebrating its 325th anniversary of continuous farming with the largest agricultural expansion in over 50 years. Queens Farm’s 2022 crop plan includes 45 new varieties of produce such as: Apollo broccolini, Ping Tung eggplant, Xaldabora mini lettuce heads, Mahon yams, and Honeynut winter squash. Last year, Queens Farm harvested 21,000 pounds of food and produced 3,500 dozen eggs, 750 pounds of honey, 225 packages of herbal tea and 100 skeins of yarn, all from its own resources. These products along with an assortment of New York State agricultural products will be available at each farmstand location,
Dating back to 1697, Queens Farm’s is the largest tract of farmland, the only farm that houses a full range of livestock and home to the largest single apiary in New York City. Queens Farm has been feeding hungry New Yorkers for over 300 years. The farmstand partnerships with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center support the mutual goal of providing expanded access to locally grown produce and encouraging New Yorkers to eat their veggies.
–Queens County Farm Museum