There's definitely a nip in the air
How do you keep the cider hot when the mercury reads 20 degrees and the wind is gusting 40 miles per hour?
Today was the first day of winter season hours for the Dupont Circle farmers market here in the District of Columbia. Most markets in our area closed shortly after Thanksgiving and won’t be open again until sometime in April. The one in Dupont is among the few that stay open year-round, and boy do you feel it whenwe get an arctic blast like this one.
Still, in recent years a lot more vendors have set up shop during these coldest of months. And this morning there were a few dozen hardy shoppers, tasting apples and empanadas, loading up on the week’s allotment of eggs and cheese. But to my mind, buying local foods shouldn’t be such a struggle, even in temperate areas such as ours. If we really wanted to grow our local agriculture, we’d make it easier on everyone and have indoor venues that are open at least as often as regular supermarkets.
Is there any reason that can’t happen?
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
Wouldn’t that make a lot more sense indeed… just a matter of finding the grounds for it, so permanent – or even semi-permanent – structures can be left there. As you know, in DC, that’s means a lot of red tape… But talk to Ann Yonkers or Bernie Prince, the market managers: the more people talk to them about it, the greater the chances of it happening.
That’s not a new idea either: witness Eastern Market! (and that’s not a critique to your post – just a statement). I certainly agree that it would encourage more vendors and more shoppers in the colder months. No reasons it could not be used in the summer either.
And finally – and unrelated – best wishes to you and your family for 2010, Ed.
Do you know about Local Roots in Wooster, OH?
http://www.localrootswooster.com/AboutUs.html
They are doing just that…and as I understand it, farmers don’t have to stand at the table all day, either – they can drop food off and it is sold by market attendants. (Not sure if this is in place yet, but it’s part of the plan.) There’s an idea…let farmers farm and marketers market…
Sylvie, the indoor area of Eastern Market has never been a market for local farmers as far as I know. That’s where the permanent vendors are installed. And the weekly outdoor market is not all farmers either, lots of conventional stuff being sold there. I don’t think D.C. has a model for an indoor farmers market.
Emily, I’ve been following the Local Roots story in Wooster through Jennifer, the Baklava Queen. I think they really have it together. There are other examples of year-round, indoor markets. I think some have started in New England.
you are probably right re: Eastern Market Ed. Except I really thought that when it was open in the 19th century, it was for local farmers to sell their ware. Of course, 150 years ago, almost all agriculture was local.
But even if it started that way, you are right that in recent memory it has not been a “producer-only” farmers’ market.
What about the Madison, WI farmers’ market? They move inside for the winter. SO much more civilized….
Madison’s is also the nation’s largest farmers market, I believe. They definitely have it together there. But if I’m not mistaken, it was in the New York Times that I was reading about a town on Long Island that was organizing an indoor farmers market for the winter. Or was it Vermont?
We just got an indoor farmers’ market this year and it has been packed. They use the lobby of an old mill building which has been converted for small businesses and I think they can leave their tables and signs from week to week.
http://www.coastalmarket.org/Welcome.html