Teenager-Run Farm Stand Mixes Education, Finance
They call the distributors, they handle the accounting, and they organize the marketing: The seven teenagers who run the Stand, a fresh produce market in Flatbush, are making one of Brooklyn's newest businesses its youngest, as well.
Steve Duncan
The seven teenagers who run the Stand, from left: Ameet Maturu, Tameka Daniels, Yotanda Edmonds, Shakeel Alexander, Kenneth Cox, Naika Joseph, and Stephanie Jean.
"If they don't make a profit, they don't get paid," state Senator Kevin Parker said of the seven students, all between 15 and 19 years old, who are serving kale, carrots, and grassroots entrepreneurship on a lot next to St. Jerome's Catholic Church on Newkirk Avenue. Mr. Parker, a Democrat of Brooklyn, first came up with the idea for the youth-run farm stand more than two years ago.
"It's exactly what this area needs. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not something you can find here, unfortunately," he said. "But it really snapped into place because it gave us an opportunity to not just get fresh fruits and vegetables but have it be more indigenous to our neighborhood. So the kids get a chance to learn agriculture economics and agriculture finance, and at the same time they provide a well-needed product to this community."
"We want them to learn goal-setting, customer service, to be entrepreneurs," said Keith Carr whose Building Blocks Local Development Corporation, along with the Council on Environment in New York City, helped to organize the Stand.
"This is your business. What ideas do you have, and are people going to go for them?" Mr. Carr said he told the students. He added, "It's amazing to see some of their ideas. These kids are really sharp."
The Stand staff works throughout the week to organize the logistics of the business, in addition to taking regular classes on economics and financial literacy in cooperation with the local Citibank branch.
"It's been fun, customers come in, they get what they need, and I'm happy to give it to them," Shakeel Alexander, 15, said.
"Everybody's doing good," the most experienced member of the Stand team, Jerry Wiseman, 19, said. "I tell them, ‘Sometimes you have to bargain with the customers, you have to be flexible with them, be patient with them.'"
The seven say they have only found one obstacle so far: "Cleaning up," Mr. Alexander said. "Nobody wants to do it!"
