Even in the throes of a major disappointment, a Brooklyn DIY business reaches out to its customers. That certainly is the case with the Greenpoint Food Market, a venue where independent cooks share prepared food with the public. Joanne Kim, founder of the Greenpoint Food Market, just sent out a letter to the Brooklyn media and others, about why she’s calling it quits. For now.
It seems that the food bazaar, which has been open for less than a year, received threats from city health officials because the cooks lack commercial food handling permits.
An event was planned for June 26th but that has been canceled. Over the jump is letter from Kim:
Dear Friends and Fans of Greenpoint Food Market:
We regrettably announce the sad and unfortunate death of Greenpoint Food Market. The tumultuous shitshow of a ride we’ve experienced over the last couple of months have dealt us quite a blow and we marketeers and vendors are working out the kinks to potentially resurrect the market come September.
The most pressing challenge is for all the homemakers to find and pay for a certified kitchen to produce their food. There are two available rental kitchens in the area and both are none the cheap. Under new participating requirements vendors are not only required to produce from a certified kitchen but would need to be incorporated and insuranced to use the facility. This on top of permits and certificates from the city health dept makes it one knotty intimidating venture, especially considering vendors rarely break even at GFM. It’s really all beside the point. GFM functions first and foremost out of a love and support for folks to share food, foster and cultivate a community, and secondly function as a nesting ground for artisanal food entrepreneurs to strengthen their wings and fly off to a bigger and wider world of opportunities and dreams fulfilled.
In the next couple months we will focus mainly on opening an incubator kitchen in Greenpoint. Right now we are fine tuning budgets, non-profit/for-profit legal structures, location searching, and researching all available resources from small business economic organizations and federal grants and private foundations and whathaveyou. If you are reading this and can lend a hand in any shape or form, we’ll hold it and kiss it and appreciate it. The next couple months will also give vendors time to inquire within and make some serious decisions as to whether or not their foodventure is worth making legit and if it’ll really take them somewhere. It’s a serious risk but what the hell is the point of living if you don’t take some risks eh?!
So without further ado, Greenpoint Food Market thanks ALL vendors and ALL friends and ALL fans for all the love and support you’ve shown us so far. We hope to get all our shit together very soon and rise from the dead stronger, healthier, tastier, and just plain kickass.