Why I Love the Madrona Farmers' Market

Out of the dozen markets where my business vends, Madrona is my favorite (though I also enjoy Queen Anne and Ballard very, very much.) I realized the other day why I Madrona is so special to me.

I've been growing convinced lately that our best bet for making sustainable food into an accessible, affordable option for a wide range of people will be to embrace where we are at this moment in time, that is, with one foot in the industrial system and the other foot in the world of better food. In other words, we're going to get more mileage by thoughtfully choosing which sustainable items we can afford, and which we can't afford not to choose, than by emulating celebrity chefs and folks on quixotic quests to eat nothing but local food for a year.

I can't think of a more apt expression of this idea than a farmers' market in the parking lot of a grocery outlet.

Conflicting Information

Researchers at Kansas State University released the results of a study this week which found that cattle fed on organic feed don't have significantly lower levels of e coli in their systems than cattle fed on "conventional" diets.

This information seemed to me to be at odds with a fact I'd read years ago in a New York Times editorial by Nina Planck, which stated that if cattle are fed grass--rather than corn--for just the last 5 days of their lives, the incidence of e coli diminishes one thousand fold.

Faced with these 2 conflicting pieces of information, I took a closer look. It seems that the Kansas researchers studied cattle eating organic feed, but the articles I found didn't specify that they were eating grass. If the dangerous, modern e coli bug thrives in the unnaturally acidic environment created in the cow's stomach from eating a diet of grain, rather than grass, it would probably be present whether or not the grain they were fed was organic.

I'm certainly reading between the lines here and making assumptions. It would be easy to conclude that you can't trust anything you read because so many studies are funded by companies with agendas and profit motives. But I think these studies do provide valuable information, you just have to take a closer look and get past the hype.

A Learning Organization

One day last week I came to the kitchen and found that all the buckets of veggies that had gone to the markets the previous day but hadn't been sold had been marked with notes indicating which market they should be used for the following day.

We always tag the ones that have already gone out and come back, because they've been out of the fridge and should be used first. This new innovation ensures that the buckets that go out the following day will be spread evenly between the various markets instead of all going to one event. This lessens the risk that they'll go unused a second day.

I always find it exciting when we find a way to improve one of our systems. I find it especially exciting when the idea comes from someone other than myself.

Lazarus Week

Local Roots had this wonderful sign last week at the Madrona Market. Apparently some of the crops they'd given up on weren't quite dead yet...

Food for Thought

A farmer offered me this pearl the other day: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not using it in a fruit salad.

Mike's Quesadilla

Mike McGinn bought a quesadilla from me at the Ballard Market this past Sunday. I'm embarassed to say that I hadn't been paying much attention to the mayoral race, but he did seem like a nice guy, and I ended up voting for him. I do tend to be partial to candidates I see campaigning at farmers' markets. I figure they're after my demographic.

Unemployment in Ballard

For the past month or so I've been offering a 50% discount at all the markets where I vend for anyone who says they're unemployed. At most markets 2 or 3 people avail themselves of the opportunity, but the number is somewhat higher at Lake City.

Yesterday I was at the Ballard Market for the first time in months. (I've been at Mercer Island on Sundays.) I didn't specifically count, but I'd guess that at least 20 people asked for the discount.

There was one group of well dressed people in their early 20's, who all ordered lunch and asked for the discount and, for the first time, I felt taken advantage of. It didn't help that they couldn't quite grasp the concept of standing in line and waiting for their turn.

My father, who is a charitable guy (hi Stanley!) says that if someone puts themselves in the position of asking for help, it isn't his place to judge whether or not they need it. I kept reminding myself of this after seeing this group, with their sense of entitlement.