FAQs Links
Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions
What is the goal of the Boston Public
Market project?
The Boston Public Market will bring together producers and buyers of locally-grown
food in downtown Boston, allowing year-round access to fresh, sustainably-produced
foods, and making our city a healthier place. Similar markets are thriving
in cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, where they
help boost local farm sales, reduce food transportation and energy costs,
bring affordable, nutritious food to urban residents, and create a focal
point in the community for locally-produced goods. A Boston Public Market
will be a lively civic amenity where farmers and city residents, locals
and tourists, home cooks and professional chefs will all come together
in one central, public space.
The market, which will be located within the Department of Transportation’s
Parcel 7 facility on the edge of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, will feature foods
from Massachusetts and across the New England region. Product categories will
include fruits and vegetables, seafood, locally-ranched meats and poultry, New
England cheeses and other dairy products, eggs, baked goods, fresh flowers, honey
and maple syrup, pastas and sauces, artisan chocolates, other locally-crafted
sweets, and a wide variety of prepared specialty items from across the region.
The Boston Public Market will provide a central showcase for residents and visitors
focused on the extraordinary bounty of delicious foods produced in our region.
Why should the Boston Public Market be located
at Parcel 7?
Parcel 7 features a large (over 30,000 square feet), unfinished, and currently-vacant
retail space. This facility will require an extensive internal buildout to accommodate
50-75 plumbed, electrified, metered vendors’ stalls, but is an otherwise
ideal market setting, featuring direct access to the Green and Orange line Haymarket
T stations, a public parking garage on the upper levels, and with a bus terminal
nearby. Its location between the Financial District and North Station, and its
proximity to residential neighborhoods, the Greenway, and prominent tourist attractions
like Faneuil Hall, add to its appeal as a public market site.
A 2009 study conducted by the BRA found the area to be an ideal location and
proposed the development of a “market district” centered on the Haymarket
open-air food market, which runs on Fridays and Saturdays. The Haymarket area
is Boston’s historic market district; the city’s original public
market was established with the construction of nearby Faneuil Hall, which operated
for some two hundred years before falling into disrepair and closing in the 1950s.
We look forward to strengthening Boston’s tradition of direct food sales
to the public in a lively downtown setting.
Is there parking at Parcel 7?
The Parcel 7 facility contains approximately 325 parking spaces on its
upper levels. Nearby public parking garages include the Congress Street and
Dock Square garages.
The Parcel 7 garage currently offers discounted parking at $3 for three or
fewer hours, upon validation by an area merchant. We anticipate that this facility,
and several other area garages, will offer competitive rates for market shoppers.
Why should public dollars go into funding this
project during an economic downturn, when so many other worthy objectives
are being cut back?
The market is a $10 million public-private investment that is projected to bring
in over $30 million in new sales of food products per year – some $300
million over 10 years. These numbers are based on sales figures for similar markets
in peer cities. Importantly, the Boston Public Market will generate economic
activity not just in Boston, but across the Commonwealth. Offering predominantly
rural food producers a year-round, high-volume, urban outlet will enable them
to invest in new infrastructure, such as greenhouses, for extending and/or increasing
production. This one-time investment will represent an ongoing, long-term economic
development vehicle for Massachusetts. Once established, the market will be financially
self-sustaining.
Aren’t farmers markets for upscale
shoppers only? Why should anyone else support public funding for them?
The primary beneficiaries of the project will be Massachusetts food producers,
who will earn an additional $30 million annually from new direct sales to the
Boston market. These revenues will find their way back to all corners of the
state. Seasonal farmers’ markets can only carry a limited selection of
goods, and right now, there are only minimal year-round sales of local food products
in Boston. Establishing a permanent public market will allow farmers to invest
in year-round production facilities, secure in the knowledge that a market exists
for their products.
Customers at a permanent, year-round market will include shoppers from a wide
range of income levels. Studies have shown that many locally-grown products are
competitively priced. In addition, the Boston Public Market will accept WIC and
SNAP (food stamps) payments, increasing the market’s economic accessibility
while expanding the pool of buyers for our vendors. A centrally-located Boston
Public Market that is well-served by public transportation and engages in active
outreach to the full spectrum of potential buyers will greatly increase access
to affordable fruits and vegetables for economically-disadvantaged individuals.
Why can’t the private sector fund this
project?
Only a nonprofit like the Boston Public Market Association is capable of running
the Public Market at a break-even operational cost level, without the need
to show an annual private-market return on investment. This organizational
structure will allow the food vendors to be the main recipients of the project’s
revenues. The market will act as an incubator for area small business owners,
allowing growers and other food producers to establish an inexpensive retail
presence within a high-volume setting, find a consumer base, and then expand
their operations.
Will the Boston Public Market feature Massachusetts products only?
Although one goal of the project is boosting the sale of the Commonwealth’s
food products, the wider the audience for the Boston Public Market is, the
stronger its overall sales will be. As a result, while we will feature many
Massachusetts-produced foods, consumers will also be able to find the best
of the region’s meats and poultry, cheeses, beers and wines, and many
other categories in which our region abounds with top-quality producers.
Is the Boston Public Market the same
as or affiliated with Haymarket?
These two food markets are entirely independent from each other, and each has
a unique focus. The vendors of the Haymarket Pushcart Association, who operate
outdoors on Fridays and Saturdays, specialize in reselling low-cost, discount
food purchased wholesale from suppliers to area grocery chains. This food is
sourced from all over the country (and sometimes abroad). The Boston Public Market,
which will operate seven days per week, will feature only locally-produced foods.
Together, the Boston Public Market and the HPA (joined by existing and new food
vendors in the area) will realize the City’s vision for a large-scale,
active “Market District” at the edge of the commercial downtown.
Will the Boston Public Market compete with or harm Haymarket?
Central public markets in peer North American cities attract millions of visitors
annually. Boston’s urban density, accessibility, and demographics suggest
that a public market here will draw similar volumes of shoppers. We believe that
the Boston Public Market will help drive extensive new business to Haymarket
and that each market’s very different product mix will complement that
of the other.
How long will it be before the Boston
Public Market is open?
We anticipate that construction at the Parcel 7 Public Market facility will
begin in the third quarter of 2011. The targeted opening date for the
Market is July 1, 2012.
What will the hours of the Boston Public
Market be?
We anticipate that the Market will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for shoppers on
weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekend days.
How is the Boston Public Market Association
organized?
The Boston Public Market Association is a nonprofit
501(c) (3) organization. The
BPMA is governed by a Board of Directors and
supported by professional staff. Board
members, who serve as volunteers and are not compensated, represent a wide range
of constituencies – farmers and other food producers; members of the culinary
world; business professionals; and other people active in civic life – who
are dedicated to bringing a public market to Boston.
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