Fresh produce, fresh air
We had someone else’s paper delivered to us this morning in a rain sleeve. I’m glad we did. We’re about to resubscribe to the paper after a long period of thinking it’s just too much paper, especially with no curb-side recycling in our area (yet; we’re working on it).
There’s an interesting, high-level editorial from Thomas Friedman about energy policy and some opportunities we’ve already missed since 9-11 to regulate right (”If America calls, will they answer?”), and especially this editorial on our downtown farmers’ market, which we also went to last weekend and got carried away by: perfect weather; friendly, diverse crowds, dogs and kids; a good spread, the river running by.
This editorial about good times and farmers’ markets as a bargain in general when food and gas prices are going high is quoted here in full:
With prices at the grocery store rising higher than a field of sweet corn, farmers markets are becoming a more economical option for shoppers.
It’s always felt good - and tasted good - to purchase produce grown by a neighbor. There’s something satisfying about buying a batch of tomatoes from the person who tilled the soil. But because of economies of scale, farmers markets didn’t always serve up a competitive price for someone on a budget.
But with gasoline prices fueling higher shipping costs and foodstuffs fetching premium prices on commodities markets, local, small-scale growers - whose idea of long-distance shipping is from Burgaw to downtown Wilmington - are becoming more competitive on prices.
We are lucky to have supermarkets with large selections of produce, and farmers markets are likely never to replace them. But it’s a nice option to have - and it’s fun.
A recent trip to the Saturday morning market in downtown Wilmington found Water Street almost as crowded as an Azalea Festival weekend, sans funnel cakes and onion blossoms.
Not only was there lots of fresh, local-grown produce, but also breads, plants, meats, cheeses and pickles. Where else can you find a jar of habanero pickled collards?
The markets also hearken back to the days when Southeastern North Carolina was a major truck-farm region, with train cars of strawberries and other Southern spring and summer delights being shipped to cooler climes.
Ideally, purchasing locally raised food would become just as convenient as a trip to the supermarket. And the large grocery stores don’t have to be left out - it would be nice to see more local produce available in the big stores, and prominently advertised as locally grown. (It was disappointing recently, in the middle of the local strawberry season, to find a table full of California berries as the only selection in an area grocery store.)
Currently, large markets are held Saturdays downtown and Wednesdays at Poplar Grove Plantation near the Pender-New Hanover county line. Perhaps a third day would become viable.
And beyond the farmers markets, there are usually roadside stands to stop at as well as year-round markets, such as Holden Brothers Farm Market and Indigo Farms Produce Center, both near Shallotte.
As the upward price trend continues for shipped-in produce, it seems like the idea of more days or even a year-round, permanent market might be ripe for the picking.
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