The second in a series by Cliff Lewis
As mentioned in the previous installment of this series, Eastern Market draws a quarter of its business from the surrounding neighborhood. According to Smith, this relationship with the East—and specifically Southeast—sections of Lancaster City lies at the heart of the Market’s very existence. Increasing neighborhood involvement is Eastern Market’s top priority: “I think, generally, it’s a neighborhood that doesn’t necessarily shop at Central Market, so there’s potential for us to tap into an entirely different population,” Smith said.
For Smith, one expression of this priority has been to make that community his home. He has lived on the East end for two years, having previously resided in the city’s Northwest. Smith is quick to dismiss common stereotypes and fears surrounding the neighborhood, emphasizing its unique cultural characteristics: “There are people out on the street here at night. I personally really like that; there’s a culture of being in the neighborhood here.”
Eastern Market is committed to infusing this neighborhood with healthy food options as well as an environmentally sustainable, internally supported economy.
“We’re really focused on providing cheap, healthy foods here,” Smith said. Not only does Eastern Market carry a broad selection of fresh produce, but most of that selection also happens to be grown organically and free of chemical pesticides. “By precedent,” Smith said, Eastern Market carries mostly organic foods. “This year, all of our farmers have been ‘organic.'” By, “organic,” however, Smith does not mean that these stands are officially USDA Certified Organic. Due to the high overhead cost of such certification, these stands instead offer a good faith assurance that their produce is grown through natural, traditional methods.
By obtaining all of its produce from farms within 15 minutes of the premises, Eastern Market strives to minimize environment impact while supporting smaller nearby operations: “We like it to be a closed loop here,” Smith asserted. In fact, some vendors grow their produce in rented plots at the Lancaster County Park. “Growing in the city is an amazing way to produce food,” Smith said, “It’s clearly the most sustainable and practical—your food is right where you live; there’s no carbon footprint attached to it; it allows people to get involved directly.”
In the course of this approach, Eastern Market provides local vendors with a valuable launching point for their budding businesses. According to Smith, “I’ve given a lot of assistance to people trying to figure out how to start their own stand—and how to get health license, how to get a space at a Community Kitchen, and liability insurance, and all those things coming together for them to sell here.” At least three former Eastern Market stand holders have ultimately “graduated” to selling their products in Central Market.
In the future, Eastern Market aspires to expand its role in Lancaster City and County to one that stands on par with the famous Central Market. According to Smith, “I feel like we’ve kind of been treated as a rogue market by a lot of people, and I’d like to see it establish itself more as a supplement—or an equal source of food—to Central Market.” Smith was quick to note, however, that this is a vision of collaboration, and not rivalry, between the markets of Lancaster City:
“When Lancaster was established, it was established to be a market town….There was the North, South, East, West, and Central Markets, and then, in addition to that, there were three more. That’s eight markets in a town that’s a square mile by a square mile….So, it’s not like we’re necessarily building something new, but we’re drawing on a heritage that’s already here, and that’s part of what bringing Eastern Market is all about.”
To support Eastern Market, visit their 308 East King Street location on Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings, and click here to learn about the “Zero Waste Fundraiser Dinner,” which will be held on this coming Sunday (August 9) to support the Market’s food donations to low-income families in the neighborhood.
