JET BLUE TO EXPERIMENT WITH A FARMERS’ MARKET AT JFK AIRPORT (T 5)

Homemade apple pies, jams, honey, peach relish and a bale of hay are just some of the items travelers can expect to see or purchase when they pass through JetBlue Airway’s Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in late October.

The airline will be setting up a farmstand for three days starting on Oct. 29, allowing passengers who have cleared security to nosh on some local fare or bring some home to their destination.

“We are not asking customers to walk away with carrots that have dirty leafy ends, but we might sell some apples,” said Sophia Mendelsohn, head of sustainability programs for the airline.

JetBlue is partnering with GrowNYC, which operates the city’s 52 greenmarkets, to develop the three-day test. “I hope this will become part of the JetBlue experience,” added Ms. Mendelsohn.

At least one other such initiative exists at San Francisco International Airport, which launched Napa Farms Market a couple of years ago.

“That farmer’s market is able to sell wine,” noted Marcel Van Ooyen, executive director of GrowNYC, adding that New York requires a special license to sell alcohol at a farmstand. GrowNYC will be identifying the products in the coming weeks that will be sold at the pop-up store, where he wants to have cooking demonstrations.

There will also be educational components to the initiative, including information about composting. In May, the airline launched a composting program with Air Ventures, which owns and operates the Jamba Juice and Dunkin Donuts restaurants in T5. Rather than tossing food in the trash, participating restaurants discard it into bins, which are brought to a composting facility, where the scraps are transformed into fertilizer and soil for local farms, including McEnroe Organic Farm in upstate New York.

“We are taking somewhat of a chance with the farmstand,” said Ms. Mendelsohn. “This is to understand how an airport can intersect with the whole New York experience.”

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Well,for sure the produce will be kosher!