Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Argus Farm Stop opened in August of 2014 with a mission to grow the local agricultural economy by creating a year-round market for locally produced foods. Since then, Argus has returned over $10 million in sales revenue to local producers while building a loyal community following.
The short term gains from this system that have been made on prices may come back to haunt us sooner rather than later. The best remedy right now is to help keep smaller food businesses afloat and markets, if run safely, are a vital part of this medicine.
What’s the future of Parramore Farmers Market? To become a one-stop shop for the community. With the expanded outdoor space and access to indoor space at the Department of Health, Barrera aims to have food trucks, cooking classes, and educational workshops.
“Farmers markets have the reputation of being somewhat elitist, not open to all,” she says. “That is the opposite of here. The intent was not to be a poor person’s market, but to be a market for everyone. There are folks with money who come, but our market board has said if rich folks want this to be an experience for them, they may have to go somewhere else for that.”
A program that helps low-income families and local farmers.
Following the release of a new USDA report titled “Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems,” food blogs erupted earlier this month with provocative headlines like “Are Farmers Market Sales Peaking?” and “Has the Farmers Market Movement Peaked?”
It may be hard to imagine a time when the term “organic” was completely unregulated or when farmers markets were not a common sight in most major cities, but this was the agricultural landscape that Jerry and Jean Thomas drove boldly into when they left Los Angeles in their VW bug with a dream to farm.
On March 15, 2003—10 years ago today—the newly renovated San Francisco Ferry Building reopened its doors. The historic landmark and international culinary destination is such a Bay Area institution that it’s hard to imagine a time when it did not hold that beloved place in the hearts of food lovers, but the transformation was many years in the making.
