No doubt those sophisticated epicureans in NYC appreciate the farm fresh
produce and are willing to pay a premium price for the priveledge!! However
it's such a long drive for most of the people on the list!
But it does highlight the fact that any big city has the people willing to
spend the money for farm fresh produce.
Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
Apropos to this thread, this is in TNYT today:
Awakening to the Greenmarket: A Cook Obsessed
(June 28, 2006)
By CELIA BARBOUR
Published: June 28, 2006
FOR many years, the seasons came and went with no particular urgency
in my kitchen. Did I need basil? I could get basil. Ditto melons,
potatoes, squash.
New York is full of stores catering to off-season-produce junkies like me.
I frequented the Greenmarket, too, but as much for the sake of the
atmosphere as the food. Like, it seems, half of New York, I spent
summer Saturdays trekking to Union Square to stock up on heirloom
tomatoes and corn; I lined up on Wednesdays for scallops or fish.
Two years ago my family and I moved into an apartment overlooking the
square. Now I rely on those 115 farmers, fishers and bakers for much
of our daily sustenance. In the middle of Manhattan, we eat foods
that mostly come straight from the farm.
Cooking from the market obsesses me and it challenges me. How can I
build a meal out of the meat from Vendor A, the herbs from B, the
fruits and vegetables from C?
>No doubt those sophisticated epicureans in NYC appreciate the farm
>fresh produce and are willing to pay a premium price for the
>priveledge!! However it's such a long drive for most of the people
>on the list!
>
> But it does highlight the fact that any big city has the people
> willing to spend the money for farm fresh produce.
Here in the boonies we often joked that we were twenty years behind
California. There is still some truth to that, although tv and the
Net have caused information and trends to move much more quickly. I
see kids here in Podunkville wearing the same bulky but stylish shoes
as in the cities.
I posted the article to underline that trend-setting places like both
East and West Coasts are raising consumer consciousness about the
value of locally-produced foods. Wise homesteaders study the trends
and position themselves to reap the harvest.
Nothing new about the opportunity or the basic requirements,
including having a market within reasonable distance, only the market
sophistication Tim writes about. I just checked on Amazon.com and
find that Booker T. Whatley's advice now costs much more than when
first published: