The BRAND NEW Meadowbrook Farmers' Market

Today was the first day ever of the Meadowbrook Farmers' Market. It looks like it's going to be a lovely event. I expected today to be slow because the market is so new and there were so few vendors, but we actually had a relatively busy day.

1. This market is different from most others in the city because it is situated on a mostly residential street, so it draws people from the very immediate neighborhood. It's also hosted by an organization that owns the property where the market takes place, which means they're free from a whole level of red tape that weighs down many market administrations, affecting everything from the long term security of the site to the permitting process for holding an event there.

You could really tell that this was a collaborative effort built on the skills and dedication of a group of people with a strong commitment to the cause, with enough enthusiasm to create the foundation for something that could grow into something exciting in the future.

Madrona Market 2009

Yesterday was my first day back at the Madrona Farmers' Market this season. (The market actually started 2 weeks ago, but I was practicing delegating.)

They've rearranged things a bit, adding an extra row of stalls. That means the vendors can't keep their cars on site, which is always a sweet luxury, but it also makes it a better market for the customers because there's more variety.

Madrona is one of my favorite markets, though it's hardly one of my busiest. I love the fact that it's hosted by the Grocery Outlet: strange bedfellows, but plenty of good feeling. I see quite a few customers who I used to see at Columbia City because the two markets aren't far from each other. But at Columbia City I rarely have the time to slow down and enjoy the people, while here there's plenty of time to do just that.

Delegating

I once heard somebody say that a manager's most important job is to build the skills of the people they're managing. I'm thinking about that a lot lately as my business works its way up to 12 markets a week. (We did 7 last week, and we'll do 9 this week.) My employees are wonderful. I'm learning to fight the urge to step in and do things myself when I feel that I can do them faster. I have more to gain from giving them opportunity to practice than from the couple of extra items I might be able to sell if I were cooking myself. My job is to grasp the big picture as well as I'm able, and to make sure that as few things as possible fall through the cracks.

Appearances

1. A while back I got a call from the manager of several of the markets where I vend. She wanted to talk to me about the appearance of my booth, and the fact that my equipment was starting to look, well, worn. I politely thanked her for her concern and got off the phone as quickly as I could to avoid saying anything, well, rude. It's bizarre to me to see such a strong emphasis on appearances in an environment where sustainability is supposed to be a key issue. To me it makes much more sense to use my tables and signs as long as I possibly can, rather than throwing them away and replacing them as soon as they start to fray. I don't think it's any coincidence that the vendors who put the least energy into hiding their rough edges tend to have the fairest prices. As a consumer, I want to see more of my purchase price as going into the food, and less going into keeping up appearances.

Plant ID 101

One of the difficulties I've been experiencing as a fledgling gardener is that I don't know what the plants I've planted are supposed to look like early in their life cycles, so I don't know what to weed.

I mentioned this to a friend who suggested that I taste things. (Someone else who I mentioned this to was horrified- "Don't poison yourself!") I found that was a great solution with the herbs, and the onions and fennel. But I did plant several varieties of herbs that I'm not familiar with--hyssop and chervil--so tasting isn't going to help me there.

Because I can't possibly pull all of the weeds out of the entire area, I've started to just pull the ones that I can easily identify, like dandelions. I also went out to visit a friend's farm a few weeks ago and we spent a little time in her greenhouse, where I got some sense of what different plants were supposed to look like. It helped.

Sustainable Monsanto

Listening to NPR this morning, I was amazed to hear that the segment of "Marketplace" I had just heard had been sponsored by Monsanto, "Dedicated to sustainable agriculture."

There's nobody I know of who is more committed than Monsanto to undermining the ideals of the sustainable food movement. Their practice of buying up seed companies and genetically engineering food crops threatens the genetic diversity that is at the heart of sustainable agriculture. Their policies and products are designed for large-scale, fuel intensive farming, which is anything but sustainable.

The underwriting message made me think of WalMart's recent green initiatives, building energy efficient stores and promoting green products. Despite the healthy skepticism that any thinking person feels when they hear about these efforts, it's still better to have energy efficient WalMart stores than traditional WalMart stores. I'd be curious to hear Monsanto's side of the story but, as far as I know, they're not even making the kind of effort you see from WalMart except, I suppose, by sponsoring public radio to spread this bizarre message.

The "V" Word

1. I can never figure out whether or not it's a good idea to use the word "vegetarian" on my signs. It does describe the food I sell, but it's also a loaded word, one that as the potential to turn off some folks who might be viscerally drawn to the food when they just see it cooking.

The people I'm most interested in feeding are eaters like myself, who are open to choosing vegetarian options even though we're not exclusively vegetarian. The strict vegetarians are going to eat vegetarian food regardless of what I offer, and the hard core carnivores will always order a meal with meat over my food. But with the folks in the middle I actually have the opportunity to lessen the amount of meat that's eaten in the world, by offering something that many of them choose over meat-based alternatives.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to communicate this with a sign. Signs need to be clear and concise, because we're all so overstimulated that we're better able to take in simple ideas than complex ones. I use the sign in the picture sometimes, but it often confuses people. It even confuses vegetarians. At the Vegfest one guy asked me if "Vegetarian food for omnivores" was different from vegetarian food for vegetarians. I guess he just wanted to make sure that I wasn't putting anything over on him.

All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?

1. Joel Berg's book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? is a sobering, well written account of the history and causes of hunger in America, as well as an overview of potential solutions.

Those of us who are passionate about local and organic foods talk a lot about how consumers should be willing to pay more for better food but, the fact is, many people can't even afford enough cheap, industrial food to feed themselves and their families.

Berg argues convincingly that, in spite of the good work and fine intentions of community anti-hunger programs, their impact on the problem is minimal compared to the potential effect of expanded government programs and broader policies aimed at ensuring that everyone is paid a living wage.

There is so much that is broken about the ways we produce and distribute food. I appreciate Berg's take on the issue, which comes from a background and perspective very different from most food activists I know. I can't help thinking, though, that I'd like to see the situation in a way that's even broader: the way we eat is intimately connected with the way we live, and we can't truly fix one without fixing the other.

Learning Curve

I sold food at the University District Street Fair this past weekend. It was a humbling experience. It's been a while since I lost money on an event. I try to stay philosophical about this kind of thing: it comes with the territory.

This is a picture of the very busy food court, which was across the street from the very slow food court where my booth was situated. I can definitely blame some of my poor sales on the lousy location, put I was probably given the lousy spot because I have no seniority at this event.

It would be easy to conclude, after a weekend of watching folks walking by eating curly fries and deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that people are just ignorant and shallow. But I'm going to take this in a different direction. I know how to succeed at farmers' markets, but I don't yet know how to succeed in this kind of venue. I know, for one thing, that you need bigger signs.

I want to learn to do well at this kind of event also. It's not going to happen all at once, but I'm going to keep trying. As soon as I started looking at it this way, I started to feel much better about being there.

Opening Day at the Bellevue Farmers' Market

1. Yesterday was opening day at the Bellevue Farmers Market. This year the market moved to a new location but it was my first day there, so I couldn't compare it to the old location. It's now located right across from the mall in the parking lot of a vacant grocery store, in the shadow of Macy's and the Bellevue Art Museum.

It was an interesting experience for me because I vend at so many markets with a distinctly urban feel, and this was definitely a suburban market. It was hard to imagine that there was any foot traffic, in fact, even the vendor parking lot was four blocks away.

In spite of my ambivalence to suburbia, I thought it was a lovely market with a lot of potential. The community was enthusiastic, and the folks in charge seemed to take their job very seriously without being overbearing. It's tough to stage a market without a lot of infrastructure and experience. I always enjoy watching markets evolve and, even though I missed the first few years of this one, I look foward to seeing how it grows.

Summer Run Farm

I took a jaunt out to Summer Run Farm the other day to pick up some bok choy. Nice place. I've been using her produce for many years, in fact, at the end of a market day when I look at my haul and think about what I'm going to have for dinner, I'm usually most drawn to those bags. It was great to see the operation, and meet the farm dog.

New Local Foods Website

My friend Laura recently put together a website guide to local foods in the Seattle area. It includes lists of restaurants, farmers' markets, farms, and CSA's.

She did it for her senior project, a city-wide requirement for graduating from high school. I'm proud to say that I acted as her advisor.

Check it out at Local Foods Seattle.

10 Feet Can Make a World of Difference

1. Two weeks ago my booth moved from the main parking lot at the University District Farmers' Market to the courtyard right next to the community center which hosts the event. Officially we're not even part of the market anymore, but rather participants in a weekly event hosted by the community center.

We vended in this courtyard last summer, and it was consistently our slowest weekly event. But I felt like it had potential, so I stuck with it. (I was vending at the Ballard Farmers' Market before it was really worthwhile-you never know which market could turn into the next Ballard.)

We've been there for 2 weeks now this season, and we've already seen a dramatic improvement, in fact, this past Saturday we sold 30% more than our best day in all of last year. The difference: the coordinators managed to convince the market staff to reposition the farmers with box trucks on either side of the pathway leading up to the food court, putting an extra 10 feet between them. Now you can actually see the food court from the market.

Big thanks to Mike Dash, of Rolling Fire Pizza, who set this whole project in motion, and stuck with it in spite of all kinds of obstacles. His enthusiasm has been the main reason we've continued to give it a chance, in spite of a rough first year, and a difficult load and unload situation.

Washing Dishes

1. From time to time I get a call from someone who tells me they're a vegan chef, and asks me if I'm hiring. I always want to ask whether they're also willing to graciously wash dishes. In my experience a gracious dish washer is much harder to come by than a vegan chef.

I once had an employee who'd say, "I went to college. I shouldn't have to wash the dishes." I always wanted to respond that I have two masters degrees, and I don't consider it beneath me. I like for my employees to see me washing the dishes regularly. I feel that it gives me moral authority. If I'm doing it too, then nobody else has the right to complain.

I like to wash dishes when I'm feeling overwhelmed. It's a simple, concrete, life-affirming activity that helps to put everything else into perspective.

Happy Beans

1. I planted my seeds way too early-about a month ago. Since then the weather has been far from warm, it's even frosted several times. Being a novice at this endeavor I'd figured I could either read extensively, get confused by conflicting information and instructions I don't have the time or resources to follow, or I could just plunge in, see what worked, and make adjustments next year.

I picked up a package of seeds for Calypso beans. I liked the name and they looked pretty. When I opened the packet I found myself holding a handful of beans that would have cost about 25 cents at the store, so I did a bit of internet research and learned that you can plant everyday, ordinary beans, but you should wrap them in a wet paper towel and leave them for a few days first, to see if they germinate. I picked up some cranberry beans, which I love, and they germinated very happily so I planted several rows of them, too.

Now I have quite a few little bean plants. There are new ones every day, and sometimes they even seem to have grown between morning and evening. I can't tell if any of my herbs are coming up, though I planted them at around the same time. But there's a reason the fairy tale is called "Jack and the Beanstalk," and not "Jack and the Parsley Plant." Beans grow really fast.

"Food Inc." and "Farmer John"

I was lucky last week to watch a screening of the new movie "Food Inc." on the same day that Netflix sent me "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."

"Food Inc." is a documentary about the evils of the industrial food system, featuring Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan. Much of the information it showcases comes from Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation" and Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I appreciated seeing the material presented in such an accessible way, though I walked out feeling a little depressed, despite the helpful suggestions that came right before the credits.

So I was pleased the next day when I popped "Farmer John" into the machine, and watched this lovely film about the flamboyant owner of a midwestern family farm. After experiencing all the headache and debt that's driven so many similar operations out of business in recent years, John Peterson finally achieved success (on less than a tenth of his original acreage) farming organically and building a thriving CSA program.

It was exactly what I needed to see: the antidote to the poison. The industrial food system may be insidious and even lethal sometimes, but there are plenty of good things going on in the alternative world of small-scale, sustainable agriculture.

Tilth Edible Plant Sale 2009

This is the line of people waiting to get into the Tilth Edible Plant Sale at 8:20 this Saturday morning. By the time the sale started at 9:00 the line stretched all the way around the perimeter of the neighboring field. There must have been about 400 people waiting. The organizers staggered the number of people they let in at any one time to avert total mayhem, so the line was that long for the first hour and a half or so.

I've been selling food at this event for 5 years now, but I've never seen anything like this. It's exciting to see so many people excited about gardening.

My own sales weren't significantly better than previous years, but that's okay, people are there to buy plants, not lunch. I love working with this organization and being part of this event. They charge vendors a hefty percentage--20% of gross sales--and I wouldn't even participate in an event where I had to pay that high a fee if it wasn't run by such a wonderful group of people, for such a worthy cause.