SOTHEBY’S IS SELLING RARE, VINTAGE AND ORGANIC VEGETABLES AT $ 1000 PER BOX. PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT GROWNYC, A PROJECT THAT HELPS IMMIGRANTS BECOME FARMERS AND THE SYLVIA CENTER PROGRAM THAT TEACHES CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING

Vegetables for sale, not at normal local markets, but in the elegant showrooms of Sotheby’s in Manhattan. Each box of vegetables will cost $1000, i.e., 1.280 euros. On September 23rd it will not be the usual, everyday produce up for auction, but very special products, such as the Turkish orange that looks like a tomato or the banana-shaped pink pumpkin. None of them is the result of genetic crossing. No GMOs. These products are absolutely organic produced from strictly organic farming, which have either been abandoned or dropped from production because they were not economically convenient. Or simply, they are rare vegetables, little known to the general public.
Sotheby’s has called this auction “The art of farming”. They have gathered together all the small businesses committed to protecting these products, which have an incomparable taste but are excluded from large retailers. It ‘s the first time in its history, stresses the “Wall Street Journal” that such a prestigious auction house has offered its wealthy clients pumpkins, carrots and eggplant, instead of the usual paintings, jewelry or memorabilia.
The proceeds of the sale will go to benefit GrowNyc, a development project aimed to helping immigrants become farmers and to Sylvia Center, a program to teach children how to eat healthy. In America they call it “locavorism” a neologism to describe the movement that encourages eating natural products grown locally, according to the principles of environmental sustainability. And the fact that Sotheby’s has noticed this trend clearly indicates that the phenomenon of organic farming is growing in the States. The auction opens the “Drink Eat Local Week”, that is “a week of eating and drinking local products” including a series of initiatives throughout the state of New York from September 26th to October 6th. The marketing director of Sotheby’s said with a touch of irony, “with this auction we have not decided to enter a new market, fruit and vegetables. We just wanted to raise awareness about the value of eating well and at the same time help local businesses get their products known”.
Source: Ansa - by: Marcello Campo