The Oil Drum: Local

As for Zabar's, I never shopped there anyway.  When I first moved to the area, I checked Eli's out, but it was immediately obvious that it caters to Upper East Side elites with too much money on their hands.

It's nice and all that he grows some stuff on roofs, but it's the money issue that's a problem.  If you want fresh, affordable local food, without all the expensive frou-frou window dressing - if you want to make an honest, responsible choice about the food resources you use - Eli's is no solution.  His store is just one more aspect of "New York as Luxury Product."

So I don't see why he's concerned about greenmarkets coming to the area - the people who shop at his store are never going to go to a greenmarket anyway.  They're not paying for the food, they're paying for the whole identity package that makes them feel like the kind of New Yorkers they want to feel like.  They're buying style, not substance.  He's not going to lose customers to a greenmarket.  Especially one that's only open once a week for a few months in the summer anyway.

Those of us who want better food options were never potential customers for him in the first place.