Pre-Thanksgiving rush at Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx brings food from the Bronx to your plate
NEW YORK - It's the busiest day of the year at the Hunts Point Produce Market.
Trucks are being loaded up with millions of pounds of produce for distribution throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some of it will likely end up on your Thanksgiving plate.
More than 30 million pounds of food will be shipping out before the day is over.
Thousands of workers are putting in long hours leading up to Thanksgiving. They're checking, packing and shipping out fruits and vegetables.
From Hunts Point to your plate
"It's very important to make sure that stuff gets loaded in a timely fashion, and then the logistics of the trucks, to make sure they go in the correct trucks, to the correct areas," salesman Joseph Micara said.
Ninety percent of what New Yorkers eat on Thanksgiving originated from the Hunts Point Produce Market warehouse. It carries traditional fruits and vegetable, including green beans, potatoes, even pineapples, but there are some niche items, too.
"For example, we fly in cherries from Chile," Joshue Gatcke of Nathel & Nathel said. "Picked three days ago in Chile, and it's here today."
"There's a continual ramp-up"
For merchants and workers, it's a source of pride to know they're contributing in their own way to other people's Thanksgiving celebrations.
"For the holiday season, there's obviously a special energy that exists here. But I would say it has been going on for several weeks," Gatcke said. "There's a continual ramp-up and buzz that exists here."
The nonstop loading and unloading continues until Wednesday afternoon, when hopefully the warehouse will be close to empty, and grocery carts are full.