Though last week’s weather felt more like middle March than the run up to summer, both the Queen Anne and Magnolia Farmers markets, which opened Thursday and Saturday respectively, got off to auspicious starts beneath dry skies.
Both have expanded their vendor list. Both have reported record setting opening days.
At a time when a spate of gun violence has stressed out our shared sense of community, the farmers markets arrive at a good time.
The Magnolia Farmers Market is part of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, brainchild of founder and director Chris Curtis, who started the city’s first, farmers only market in the University District in 1993 on a wing and a prayer. That market, which runs year round, has been named one of the country’s top 10 by Forbes Magazine.
Curtis’s vision would expand to include a half-dozen other markets under the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance umbrella, one of which is Magnolia.
Two years ago the Magnolia market’s financial sustainability hung in the balance; a community based fund-raising drive saved the market and set it on a more sustainable path. Curtis said last year’s market averaged about 750 shoppers for each outing. She had said 1,000 people would be a reasonable goal to work for. According to Curtis, nearly 1,600 people showed up for Saturday’s opening day.
The Queen Anne Farmers Market, which opened Thursday, also appears to be on the right road. As in Magnolia, community support has been critical to the independent operation.
In recent years, the farm-to-market relationship has become complicated; agri-business, including Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, has attempted to co-opt the slow food movement.
But, in its Queen Anne and Magnolia incarnation, the relationship is as simple and direct as it can be.
Much is gained by getting to know the farmers who produce the food we put on our tables. Supporting the small farmer — their lot is sheer hard work, no matter how romantic the concept — is a worthy way to spend our dollars. It keeps the small farmer in business; maintains our food-buying options and keeps selected landscapes in Puget Sound country and east of the mountains green.
Just as importantly, the markets build community. They become a “third place,” like the post office or café, where neighbors catch up with one another. Spread the word. Tell your friends and neighbors about the markets.
They’re off to a great start.
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