Comments on: Last Week at the Market – Dropping the ball

By: Ellie

Ellie — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:29:39 +0000

As defined by answers.com,
“The most important criteria for farmers’ markets are that goods be locally produced and that vendors sell their own products”

I think the confusion Bill and I felt when we went to the Kirkwood farmers market was due to the amount of produce being sold there that did not appear to be local. I could be wrong, but there were one or two stands which clearly stated “local” and many others that said “California” or wherever the produce happened to come from. There were also a suprisingly large amount of flowers & hanging plants for sale which was a little strange.

I think most people have an expectation when going to a farmers market that most of the items are going to be locally sourced. I don’t think I am alone in saying I am going to the farmers markets for that purpose.

I agree that there is more to being local than just veggies, and according to Alanna’s information Summit contributes a lot to their community which is awesome.

But, in my opinion you should call it something other than a farmer’s market if what you are offering is not for the most part, locally sourced.

By: Bill Burge

Bill Burge — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:34:14 +0000

Thanks for posting the info. The photo was Saturday at 1:30PM.

By: Alanna @ A Veggie Venture

Alanna @ A Veggie Venture — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:23:00 +0000

Make the trip on a Saturday morning, Bill, and you’ll find plenty of choices — several farmers, home-grown flowers, bread, homemade food items, two food outlets plus the snowcone place which is a real gathering place for teens and families: at night, the Kirkwood Market is packed.

Summit is the dealer you call “Soulard-like”. It does carry local produce — asparagus, strawberries, tomatoes, more — when it’s available which as you know, isn’t much at the moment given our wet wet conditions, along with non-local produce that’s in MUCH better condition than that sold at Soulard.

But Summit anchors the Kirkwood Market in a way that no one else would / could. During the spring and summer season, they’re open every day. When the farmers sell out and pack up by late-morning on Saturdays (especially this year, so far), both Summit and CJ’s Produce (which isn’t Eckerts but sells some Eckerts produce) stay open.

During the fall when the farmers are gone, Summit hosts a wonderful pumpkin fest (with haybales for kids to climb, a bumper-tractor play area, more) and at Christmas, they sell trees and wreaths and Christmas gift items.

So come back for a second look, Bill. You’ll find it packed with people on Saturday mornings (not the empty place your photo shows).

But yes, it IS a market different than others — and we like it that way. There’s more to being ‘local’ than just the vegetables.