Local_Global

The produce business in Manhattan Chinatown is a testament to the interconnectedness of local and global economies. On the one hand, the market is a hub of local activity, the spatial proximity between the wholesalers and vendors being key to its efficiencies and reflected in the market's strong community ties.

At the same time, the produce market is also deeply tied to global networks of trade and commerce. Imbruce explains that it is both rooted in place and connected to global producers, relying on conventional distribution infrastructures, like the Port of Miami and integrated trucking compa-nies, to move product from farm to market. For example, the smallest growers who supply Chinatown are able to do so only because they have a symbiotic relationship with major food distribu-tors, transporting their comparatively tiny ship-ments of specialty vegetables by literally piggy-backing on and filling the spaces of refrigerated trucks that move commodities from Florida to New York. These small-scale suppliers remain in business because of global supply chains, not in spite of them.

In this way, the produce market in Manhattan Chinatown highlights the importance of recognizing the interconnectedness of local and global economies, and the ways in which they can mutually support and benefit one another. By embracing this complexity and working to bridge the divide between local and global, we can create more resilient, sustainable, and equitable systems of trade and commerce that benefit everyone involved.