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The market opens up in less than 7 days! There are so many exciting new things this season and if you're keeping up with our Facebook and Twitter you'll find all sorts of snippets of what's to come!
We're spicing up spring- beginning with your repertoire of vegetables. Bring your appetite (and picky eaters) to the market where you'll get introduced to bok choy, parsnips and radishes, all in season right now and in single serving giveaway bags, compliments of the West End Farmer's Market. Never cooked with these? No problem, we'll also be handing out recipes so you can begin your delicious relationship as early as lunch! Also come to help with a very important project which requires two simple things: goodwill and a shoebox. For the most vulnerable members of our community, a simple shoebox filled with personal care or emergency preparedness items can make a big difference. That's why we're teaming up with the United Way of the National Capital Area in their 2012 Shoebox Project. All you have to do is fill a decorated shoebox with items like toothbrushes, socks, and soap and bring them to our Sunday farmer’s market! These will then be given to nonprofits serving veterans, the elderly, and the homeless around the greater D.C. area. We will also have empty, undecorated shoeboxes to pick up. Just be sure to stop sure to swing by the United Way table! For those of you that participate don’t forget to submit a picture of your Decorated Shoebox to win Great Prizes! To enter:
Prizes will be awarded to the top three best decorated shoeboxes!
This is only the beginning of what is promising to be a fantastic season. Hopefully everyone is as excited as we are to begin the new market year. We hope to see you all on Opening Day and beyond! Hello,
If you are missing buying your favorite foods from our vendors - fear not! Some of our intrepid farmers, bakers and OJ making vendors are braving the cold at some of the other Alexandria markets that are open all winter. Here is the list of who is standing out in the cold waiting for you and at which market. OLD TOWN MARKET: Courthouse Square on Saturdays from 5:30AM to 11AM. (I know, I know - it is early!) Herbal Curiosities: Salves, creams, lip balm and herbal concoctions to keep you healthy. http://www.facebook.com/HerbalCuriosities Billie's Flowers: Billie and his motley crew are still giving away free single blooms to entice you to stop and smell (and buy) the roses - and daisies and carnations and evergreen bouquets Fresh Joseph: Cheryl and Joseph provide a big dose of Vitamin C with their fresh-squeezed OJ. Don't forget to stock up for the week of Christmas! DEL RAY MARKET: Mount Vernon Avenue in downtown Del Ray on Saturdays from 8Am to noon. Run over to Del Ray and have some breakfast, stock up on some vegies, fruits, nuts, cheese and baked goods, then have a good time walking up and down and checking out the stores. You are bound to be entertained! Tommy's Cheese Store and More. Our favorite skamp - Tommy Tompkins is holding down the winter fort at Del Ray. If you miss his cheese, dairy, jams, honey and baked goods - it is not that far to go. The Dressed Up Nut. Oh my they keep coming up with the most delicious new flavors of nuts - so terrific they will make your knees buckle. Marianna's Macarons: Marianna and her handsome hubby did so well at our market they decided to extend the season by selling at Del Ray until Christmas. If you want some of her macaroons after that you will have to order them at: http://www.getmacarons.com/wordpress/. They are perfect for parties and she has a new Italian-made Macaron tower that will make your party look like Ivana Trump decorated it! I hope this makes each of you want to run out this weekend and see your favorite vendors. I will keep you posted on other vendor The West End Farmers Market had a terrific year! Like the proverbial postal carriers our customers came out to the market every Sunday despite rain, heat, hurricanes and cold weather. We want to thank every one of you for making the market a success and such an integral part of your Sundays.
Our last Sunday is right before Thanksgiving, November 20th. There is still time to order a free-range turkey from On the Gourmet Truck, as well as pies and desserts from K&M Cupcakes, Vera’s Bakery, Tommy at the Amish Cheese Store and More, Marianna’s Macarons and On the Gourmet Food Truck. The fresher the ingredients the tastier the recipe so don’t forget to stock up on your root vegetables, and apples for Thanksgiving. The West End Farmers Market hopes you have a great Holiday season and a terrifically fun winter. Just when you think winter will never end, the market will open again the first Sunday in May: May 5th. When you get to missing the market visit our website and facebook account. We have dozens of photos – maybe you can find yourself – to tide you over until we open again. www.westendfarmersmarket.org Facebook search for Alexandria West End Farmers Market. Thanks again. See you at the Market!  How can a wild, baby African elephant and a semi-urban, American housecat become friends? Find out in Ruby and Baby... an unlikely friendship.
Author Mary Jane O’Loughlin is a native Washingtonian who currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Mary Jane volunteers at a local animal shelter; she found and adopted Baby in 2005. Mary Jane traveled to Kenya for 2 weeks with Micato Safaris. While initially her interest was in meeting a very special rhinoceros named Morani, she was unaware that she would fall in love with elephants. She had never seen them interact with each other in their world, where they belong. When she came home, she told her little cat, Baby, all about her trip and showed her all the pictures she took of the animals. (If you are an animal lover, you are smiling and nodding your head right now.) The gorgeous pictures in the book were drawn and hand-painted from ideas and sketches by Lizzy Lahive, based on Mary Jane's photographs of Baby and a 3 month old baby elephant named Bidi. Mary Jane will be selling her signed and inscribed copies of her book at the West End Farmers Market on Sunday, November 6. The 2011 market season for the West End Farmers Market is coming to an end. Special orders will be taken on November 6 and November 13. Pick up your pre-ordered specialty items on November 20.
Tom's Amish Dairy Products*
On the GOurment
*Samples available on November 6 only. The West End Farmers Market has grown substantially since it first opened. In 2007, there were about 200 visitors each week. In 2010, attendance increased to around 850 people each week! Special thanks to the following people:
Yellow Pepper Patrons Joyce Wilbur and Ed John Nick of Nick's Night Club: NoVa's Premier Live Country Venue Peachy Peach Patrons Kathy Nerger and John Nerger Mike of Mango Mike's Restaurant: Exotic Eats. Caribean Beats. Blueberry Patrons Rebecca A, Hillary Harms, Sarah Noble, Kelly Groth, Paula Jarvis and Natasha Fox If you believe in the West End Farmers Market and would like to see it grow, please help us!
All supporters are eligible to receive news and information about the West End Farmers Market by email.  Eric Davis, Judith Salter-Davis and Ellie Beagle are the Winners of the Best Farmer Costume AND the Winners of the Best Family Costume (for 3 or more members in the same theme).  Winner of the Best Pet Costume  Winner of the Best Vegetable Costume  Tied for Winner of the Best Fruit Costume The prize for each winner includes:
1) a bag of fresh produce in a reusable Virginia Grown tote bag 2) a box of brownies from K & M Cupcakes https://www.facebook.com/pages/K-M-Cupcakes/114390505319723 3) a coupon for a free glass of fresh squeezed orange juice from Fresh Joseph's http://www.westendfarmersmarket.org/1/post/2011/05/fresh-josephs.html Prizes will be distributed at the West End Farmers Market on Sunday, November 6. Real Time Farms helps you understand where your food comes from. You can learn about farms in your area, and see where you can get their goods at farmers markets, farm stands, and restaurants around you.
How Does a Farmers Market Affect the Community?
Tomorrow the Kojo Nambe radio show on WAMU will interview Sharon Gruber of Bread for the City. Bread for the City is a DC based food bank with cutting edge ideas on food and nutrition for low income recipients. They “Glean” fresh food from farmers and farmers markets to distribute as a healthy alternative to the processed foods most food banks rely on. Their website states “Bread for the City rescues tens of thousands of pounds of fresh, free surplus produce. Gleaning is an ancient practice of salvaging food that would otherwise go to waste in a food system.” They glean from farmers, farmers markets and trees in the DC area. It is a novel and creative method of procuring food for distribution to low income families. (1) Since Bread for the City provides a range of services including health care, it was important to them to support their health care initiative by providing fresh healthy foods for their customer base. Statistically it can be difficult to identify how the distribution of fresh food affects the habits of a community. Fortunately, in January 2008, The American Journal of Public Health published an article by four doctors who completed an in-depth, statistical analysis of the long term practices of low-income women who received assistance for the purchase of fresh local fruits and vegetables. This was a two month study conducted in Los Angeles, using scientific methodology which documented reactions of a control group to economic subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables. These doctors wanted to know if access to fresh foods at a good price could change eating habits – and it did! Prior to this study, there were few quantitative studies on the effect on daily habits access to fresh foods might create. Kaiser Permanent did a small survey of patrons at their worksite farmers markets and discovered that nearly 3 of 4 shoppers reported that they consumed at least a few more fruits and veggies because of the market and more than half reported consuming an increased variety of fruits and veggies.(2) According to the American Journal for Public Health article, people with low incomes are at risk for poor dietary quality and for low consumption of fruits and vegetables. There are many factors that contribute, the chief among them being the lack of green grocers, supermarkets or farmers markets in low income neighborhoods, as well as the cost of fresh foods and veggies compared to the low cost of high sugar, high carbohydrate foods like potatoes, pasta, and rice. The doctors conducting the study provided two things to promote the choice of fresh vegetables and fruits: 1. economic subsidies for fresh fruits and veggies in the form of SNAP coupons, and 2. they made sure there was a farmers market and/or grocery store within walking distance of the SNAP offices. When you get into the middle of the article there are enough equations, percentages and statistics to give you a headache, so let me synthesize. Access to an economic subsidy for fresh fruits and veggies, as well as a site to purchase them in, resulted in a large increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables during the study and afterwards as well. “Farmers Market Participants showed an increase of 1.4 servings…” (complicated math – let’s just say it means people were eating fresh food at nearly every meal), while the “supermarket participants showed an increase of 0.8 servings.” “Participants redeemed more than 90% of the coupons and purchased a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables” Clearly people who frequented farmers markets were more likely to eat more fruits and veggies. This is probably because farmers markets are more fun than grocery stores. We don’t need a complicated scientific study to prove it, however this study states “farmers’ market participants thought produce at their site was fresher and of higher quality than at the supermarket”. Participants who purchased their produce at the farmers’ market also mentioned enjoying the pleasant “community experience” of meeting friends while shopping and interacting directly with growers. (3) Presently Bread for the City gleans at our market. We have a great relationship and love to see the truck drive up every week to haul off the goods. We support their efforts to promote healthy eating wholeheartedly. Our own efforts at promoting healthy eating are diverse: We have a wide range of foods at our market; we have had a Yoga class at the market and may offer more, we give away recipes, our operating non-profit Eden Good dedicated the summer to demonstrating how to can the fresh produce shown at our market, the Alexandria biking initiative has had a table at our market multiple Sundays, we will watch customers bikes for them if they bike to the market. Additionally, we are looking into adding the SNAP program, coupons for low income residents, to our market next season. If anyone reading this would like to assist with that research and planning, please contact us at [email protected]. Please listen to the Kojo Nambe Show this Wednesday at 1PM to hear Sharon Gruber, Bread for the City’s nutritionist, talk about their work. This Sunday - come and say hi and tell us your stories on how the market has affected your eating habits. I will add them to our blog. See you at the market! (1) Bread for the City Website. www.breadforthecity.org (2) Project for Public Spaces ”Public Markets and Community Health: An Examination” J. Robin Moon, Dr. M. Katherine Kraft, Dr. Lawrence Brown, Jarmin Yeh. (3) “Effect of a Targeted Subsidy on Intake of Fruits and Vegetables Among Low-Income Women in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.” Denar R. Herman, Gail G. Harrison, Abdelmonem A. Affi, and Eloise Jenks. American Journal of Public Health. January 2008, Vol 98, No. 1. |
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