Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62387
Freshfarm Market H Street NE This beloved market had to return its parking lot to developers this spring and, at press time, was still finalizing details on relocating to a new spot, which is within spitting distance of H Street. Relocations can be tricky, but if any farmers market can withstand a move, this feisty little neighborhood staple can. H Street Market is in the Atlas District, a neighborhood that was pummeled during the 1968 riots but has seen some serious revitalization in the last decade. The market is a haven for the young families who have moved to the gentrifying, artsy neighborhood—a safe place where children can play while their parents pick through crates of arugula and raspberries. "I often joke that you can't get into the market unless you're wearing a Baby Bjorn or have a dog on a leash," says market manager Juliet Glass, who wears her passion for this market on her sleeve. "Though it's small, it's got at least one of everything you need: pro- duce, fruit, meat, cheese, bread." Savvy locals have figured out that this market shares many vendors with Dupont Circle, so they head east to H Street to avoid the crowds and long lines. Keswick Creamery, with its small-batch cheeses, and Atwater's, with hand-shaped loaves, are just some of the vendors the two markets have in common. Georgetown's Dolcezza comes to H Street only once a month (Dupont every Sunday), using orchard fruit to make sorbets and gelati. Some vendors are unique to H Street. Garden Path Farms, run by an Amish family from Newburg, Pa., raises Red Devon cattle, Kathadin lambs, Tamworth pigs, turkeys and chicken to sell at this market. Glass says their "lambchetta"—lamb belly cured in Himalayan salt and rolled like pancetta—is an undisputable hit. "And then there's their eggs," she says. "I'd crawl through bro- ken glass to eat them." Columbia Heights Community Marketplace For Kristina DeMain, it's all about the tomatoes. A development manager at the Washington Office on Latin America, DeMain was a big fan of some of the other farmers markets in town. But then she tasted heirloom tomatoes at the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace, which opened in 2010, and now, there's no turning back. "It truly was a holistic tomato experience," DeMain says. It's hard to say if the tomatoes are just that good, or if DeMain is also tasting the pleasure of having a farmers market in her very own neighborhood, one that speaks to her generation and her budget. "Some markets can be really yuppie," she says. "But this market is down-home and has a great community spirit." Not easy to do considering its large Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Hispanic popula- tions make the Columbia Heights neighborhood one of the most socio-economically diverse in D.C. One vendor specializes in Asian greens. And this summer the grassroots committee run- ning the market is bring- ing in a Hispanic farmer from Northern Virginia—a woman no less—who will be selling herbs and produce popular in Latin American cooking. The market has already doubled in size in two years. Part of its appeal is that the Columbia Heights mar- ket not only accepts SNAP coupons but, thanks to vari- ous grants, is able to double their face value. This year the market is also launching a pilot pro- gram whereby doctors at the local health clinic will prescribe "health bucks" to be spent at the market to help foster healthy eating habits. Organizers have also created a garden patch for neighborhood kids, and stu- dents from the local elemen- tary schools sell vegetables from their schools' edible gardens once a month. Popular vendors in- clude Stachowski Brand Charcuterie, with sausages made from beef, chicken, duck, pork and turkey; Springfield Lamb, which sells lamb meat and wool; Dragonfly Farms, known for its famous Bolognese sauce; and bakeries Upper Crust and Bonaparte Breads. And those toma- toes. |SFM| Pascale Le Draoulec is a James Beard Award–winning author who has written about food and restaurants for more than 15 years. THE MARKETS Freshfarm Market Dupont Circle 20th St. NW between Massachusetts Ave. and Connecticut Ave. Sundays 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. (April–December 2012) Sundays 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (January–March 2013) freshfarmmarkets.org Freshfarm Market by the White House 810 Vermont Ave. NW (between H St. and I St. NW) Thursdays 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. (May 3–October 25, 2012) freshfarmmarkets.org Glover Park-Burleith Farmers' Market Wisconsin Ave. & 34th St. NW (at Hardy Middle School parking lot) Saturdays 9 a.m.–1 p.m. (May–November) dcgreens.org Freshfarm Market H Street NE New location TBA Saturdays 9 a.m.–12 p.m. (April 21–Nov. 17, 2012) freshfarmmarkets.org Columbia Heights Community Marketplace 14th St. & Irving St. NW Saturdays 8:30 a.m.– 1:30 p.m. (May–October) columbiaheights communitymarketplace.org MAY/JUNE 2012 81