Home > Relish Austin > Archives > 2008 > September > 19 > Entry

Show your farmers’ market love

High winds from Hurricane Ike last weekend were enough to prompt the Sustainable Food Center to cancel last Saturday’s downtown farmers’ market. The Sunset Valley Market was open, but not nearly as many vendors or shoppers showed up.

Suzanne Santos, director of the SFC, says farmers lost more than $15,000 in sales because the market was canceled, which was the first time the market had done so since it started more than five years ago.

You can bet that tomorrow morning will be as crisp as this morning, which makes buying fresh produce and good from locals even sweeter.

Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Eating locally

Comments

Click here to report comment abuse.

By TXGardener

September 20, 2008 7:35 AM | Link to this

No. I will not spend one cent of my money at the Farmer’s Market in Austin. After not having been for some years, I decided this summer to shop there again. I was appalled at not only the prices, but the produce. NOTHING was fresh picked. It was all days to a week old, nothing was local, and it had all been brought into town in refridgerated trucks. After serching for 45 minutes, I found a couple of tomatoes that didn’t look rotten, and a cucumber that was cold and sweating from its ride in the fridge. For 1 cucumber and 3 tomatoes, I paid $12. I took them home and placed then in my fridge. The NEXT day, I went to eat them, and the tomatoes had collapsed into a puddle of goo, and the cucumber was soft and shrunken up to the size of a gherkin. Every single person I have talked to since then has reported the same thing. So NO, we will not go to the Farmer’s Market here any more. We will, however, go to Boggy Creek Farm, a true LOCAL.

By Jerry

September 20, 2008 7:45 AM | Link to this

Oh how I miss the farmer’s market of Austin! I encourage everyone to go! It is a weekly experience that I miss out here in North Carolina!

By Suzanne Santos

September 20, 2008 10:44 PM | Link to this

TXGardner, I am wondering to what farmers market you are referring to, as none of the more than two dozen farmers (over this summer) at the Austin Farmers’ Market downtown at 4th and Guadalupe (or the Triangle on Weds.) brings any of their own local farm’s produce in on a refrigerated truck. They mostly pick the day before, and granted, some of them do come from anywhere from 4 to 150 miles away, but they must grow what they sell (we follow up with farm inspections). Any customer that has a bad experience with their produce is welcome to address the problem with me, Suzanne Santos. Call the Sustainable Food Center office at 512-236-0074, ext. 101.

By lynell

September 22, 2008 6:50 AM | Link to this

TXGardner, I too am wondering which market you refer to. As a frequent shopper at the Sunset Valley market, I can attest to the freshness and quality of the produce I’ve purchased there. I also don’t know any farmers who bring their produce in on refrigerated trucks. The produce was beautiful all summer long. I will continue to shop there regularly. Yay farmers!

By Jenny

September 22, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

The farmers market can be expensive, I suppose, but no more than what organic would cost in the grocery store, I don’t think. I’ve never had any issue with the quality of the produce though and am surprised to hear anybody else has.

By Addie Broyles

September 23, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

Here’s the report from the Sustainable Food Center: More than 2,000 people spent almost $25,000 on Saturday, which is a one-day record for the market.

Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F

Post a comment



Remember me?




*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.

 
Advertisement
The M.O.

The M.O.

The 2009 presidential inauguraion: It'll get ya drunk

For those of you who, like I, will be attending the 2009 presidential ...

Advertisement
Statesman Top Jobs