Postcards from Eastern Market: Meet Grace Kelly
Her grandfather started working at Eastern Market in 1927, when he was just five years old.
If you’ve spent any amount of time at Eastern Market on Saturdays, chances are you’ve heard the auctioneer-like sales pitch of Grace Kelly echoing among the vendors. No, not thaaat Grace Kelly, but rather the third-generation produce wholesaler. The 66-year-old has been selling peppers, apples and other fruits and veggies to Detroiters for more than a half a century for her family’s produce distribution company ID Produce. The business is situated, like many Italian-American owned enterprises in Metro Detroit, on the east side. The longtime dealer says her Sicilian-American grandfather started working at the market in 1927 and with her grandson now helping at the stand, the business shows no sign of slowing down.
The audio was captured and introduced by journalist Serena Maria Daniels who is a Feet in 2 Worlds Food Journalism Fellow at WDET.
Learn more about Serena’s revolutionary upbringing that led her to journalism.
