As a result of the Thanksgiving holiday, Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, N.Y., distributed almost 30 million pounds of produce — on a single day.
That’s three times the market’s usual daily activity.
Called the “Busiest Day” on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the market opened its doors to all media outlets to showcase the work the wholesalers and distributors do. This year, every major news outlet covered the event, according to a Hunts Point market newsletter.
“When folks sit down for a Thanksgiving meal, 90% of what’s on their plate is coming out of the Hunts Point Produce Market right here in the Bronx, except the turkey, of course,” market CEO Phillip Grant said in a promotional video on YouTube.
The week leading up to Thanksgiving is the market’s traditional Week of Giving, which used to be one day and expanded across the city’s boroughs to meet the higher need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hunts Point produce merchants donated almost 4,000 bags of fresh produce to families experiencing food insecurity throughout New York City, according to the newsletter.
Annually, the merchants donate about 15 million pounds of produce.
During the Week of Giving, market leaders partnered with organizations and elected officials to assist with locating food-insecure communities and assembling food distributions.
Partners in this initiative included:
- Manhattan borough president Mark Levine
- Queens borough president Donovan Richards
- City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers
- Staten Island borough president Vito Fossella
- Bronx borough president Vanessa Gibson
- City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca
- State Assemblymember Kenny Burgos
- Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso
- State Sen.-elect Nathalia Fernandez
- State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi
- Huntington Free Library
- Community Health Action of Staten Island
- Bronx River Houses Tenants Association
