Ramallah goes organic
A popular Tuesday health food market in Ramallah is helping marginalized women and young farmers sell organic produce.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Every Tuesday, Iman Turkman carefully harvests crops in her small garden, organizes them in plastic containers and leaves them at the garden door for pickup and delivery to the weekly Ramallah market held the same day. She grows tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, parsley and mint in her small plot in al-Nasseriya in Nablus. Turkman planted the garden in 2010 after graduating from university.
The Tuesday health food market, located on al-Maahed Street, near Yasser Arafat Square, began in June 2013 under the banner “Stay healthy and support food sovereignty for your people.” It sells organic fruits and vegetables and nutritional products free of artificial preservatives. Among the offerings are olive oil, pickles, jam, honey, yogurt, legumes, dates, thyme, couscous (maftoul) and concentrated natural drinks.
