The New York Times reports that a farmers market has been approved near the White House. Just weeks ago President Obama expressed a desire for a nearby market at an interactive health care strategy meeting. The opening of the market is a natural follow-up to the installation of the White House kitchen garden and is part of the growing trend toward accessible agriculture across the country.
The most important elements in a farmers market are quality produce and proximity to your kitchen. At the same time, I think high profile gardens and markets serve an important purpose. Humble and egalitarian concepts such as fair trade and the locovore lifestyle need to be "sold" to the public to spread.
This summer, I visited a high profile farmers market in Denver. Tiri's Garden is a fundraising garden and market near the Denver Convention Center.
A portion of the proceeds from all sales of food and produce go to local children's charities. Workers downtown can have lunch among the flowers and listen to live music.
Ornamental and vegetable beds near the entrance are sponsored by local businesses.
The garden and market serve an aesthetic function downtown in addition to generating funding for children's charities and promoting local produce.
This is very different from my local farmers market in Nassau Bay, which does not have corporate sponsors that I'm aware of. Tiri's Garden may seem gimmicky to some -- it's showy and occupies prime real estate -- but it serves many purposes not addressed by more traditional markets and gardens and is great advertising for gardening in general.
Hand in hand with the growing popularity of farmers markets is the rise of locovore restaurants that exclusively use local produce. It makes sense for chefs to appreciate the benefits of using the freshest ingredients possible. (A chef at the White House is reportedly very involved in the White House kitchen garden and farmers market projects.) When traveling, I make a point of seeking out such restaurants, and I have yet to be disappointed when I find one. Mulvaney's B&L in Sacramento and Duo Restaurant in Denver were highlights of my trips.
Duo Restaurant serves a dish called "farmers market stew." It must vary during different times of the year, but when I had it, it contained carrots, cauliflower, beets, and greens sautee with garlic and ginger. The beets gave the carrots and cauliflower the most beautiful color I have ever seen in a dish. Better still, I never liked beets or cauliflower before, but my entree educated me! As you can see in the photo below of what I took back to the hotel fridge, the beets didn't last long on my plate. (I regret not taking a photo before I dug in.) The vegetables were accompanied by a delicious combination of quinoa, wheat berry, and almond.
Do you know of a restaurant in Houston similar to this one? I would love to know about it. Given the growing popularity of locovorism, I think we'll have one soon if we don't have one already. And maybe the White House will open a restaurant or at least put some recipes online.
We need to keep the momentum in making vegetables cool.
