A Bergen Beach woman who craved fresher food is sowing the seeds of healthier eating by turning her home into a green market.
Nancy Mure wished she had a farmers’ market in her neighborhood — but instead of waiting for the city to organize something, she decided to do it herself by pairing up with a start-up that takes orders online then ships the farm produce to her home.
“I just started looking online and I said, ‘Well what can I do to get better food here?’ ” said Mure, a holistic nutritionist.
So a few months ago, Mure signed up with Farmigo, a company that delivers fruits, vegetables, and meat from farms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont to city residents who volunteer to serve as neighborhood pick-up locations for local produce orders.
Mure’s Bergen Beach home is now a virtual farmers’ market where her neighbors who order through Farmigo come once a week to collect their farm-fresh food. Customers place their orders with Farmigo online — Mure doesn’t handle any money — and the food arrives at her house every Wednesday.
Mure, who receives a discount on her own Farmigo orders but doesn’t get paid, said that she operates the home-based farmers’ market because she wants to promote healthier lifestyles for her neighbors.
“When you really want to do something, I want to do it for free,” she said. “I find myself worried about what everyone is eating.”
A customer who has been using the service for two months said the quality produce is a huge improvement over the food in the local supermarkets.
“The food is the freshest fruit and vegetables I’ve ever had,” said Nicole Rose, adding that she is particularly impressed with the potatoes. “It smelled like it just came out of the ground.”
Mure said she has about 10 customers and they usually stagger their weekly pickups to avoid creating traffic.
“It doesn’t create a problem for the neighborhood because you don’t have people lining up down the block,” she said.
Rose said the farmers’ market gives residents a chance to have the health food that is available in other areas of Brooklyn but — until now — was nonexistent in the neighborhood.
“It is the only opportunity that we have,” said Rose.
Residents interested in placing an order can contact Mure at nancy@stellarhealthinc.com.
