What’s Good? | July 27, 2020

Fresh & Local:

What’s Good?

On your markets, get set, geaux! National Farmers Market Week starts this Sunday, August 2nd!!

To celebrate National Farmers Market week, WhatsGood, our online farmers market host, is getting in the spirit and will donate 10% of your purchase to our Market Match program which doubles Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP and formerly known as food stamps) dollars spent at market. As always, use the online marketplace to place your orders ahead of time. Enter coupon code DONATE 10 when making your purchase for any of our markets this week. Now more than ever in these uncertain times, Market Match is a vital resource that helps community members stretch their food dollars with this extra supplement! Thank you for investing in your community!

The Parkway Drive Thru Market has new hours from 7-11 am to make way for the return of Parkway Bakery & Tavern’s Sunday lunch. Make your groceries and grab a loaded shrimp po-boy for home (if it makes it that far).

Farmers markets bring people together, even when they’re 6 feet apart! Thanks for your support and joining the celebration, and supporting the Parkway, our gracious host and excellent community partner.

Good Food Word of the Week:

In addition to running farmers markets, a critical component of Market Umbrella’s work is to enhance food and nutrition access and awareness in our community. The Good Food Word of the Week seeks to shed some light on this part of our work and also to demystify the jargon.

Third place

This week’s Good Food Word is Third place – Third places are social environments outside the primary social spaces of the home and the workplace. While the workplace is a structured setting and the home is a private one, third places provide an opportunity to form spontaneous social connections among a diverse group of people. Examples of third places include public parks, libraries, cafes, and of course, farmers markets! Covid 19 has certainly challenged this as for many, there is now only a single place - the home. We look forward to brighter days when our markets again serve not just as retailers of local food, but also as third places in our community.

Picks of the Week:

Mid Summer Seasonality - aka where is my favorite vendor?

Eggplant, okra, tomatoes, oh my! Summer has definitely settled in and as temperatures (and humidity) creep into the 90s, there is good news! Heat-loving vegetables like sweet and hot peppers, the cucurbits cucumbers and summer squash, eggplants, tomatoes and okra are now in high season. These versatile veggies grace the plate as a group or flying solo. Preserve them for another season by pickling, freezing or canning. Missing the greens? While it’s too hot right now for cooking greens like collards or kale at the market, take this opportunity to get to know our other vendors like Brickwall Farms and their selection of hydroponic lettuces and Know Dat Grow Dat with their array of microgreens while we wait for the return of mustards next month. It’s gettin’ hot in here so take out your salad tongs.

How to Shop with CCFM

Modified Walk Up Market - Tuesday walk up market at Uptown 8-12 pm with new precautions like mandatory masking, limited crowd size, and plenty of room for social distancing. Please leave pets at home, limit your group size and plan to shop briskly.

Home Delivery - Order and pay online and Top Box will bring it to your door. Starting this week and through the summer, we’ll be offering one $30 box.

Drive Thru Markets - Pre-order, prepay and come pick up without leaving your car. Sundays at Parkway **NEW HOURS** 7-11 am, and Wednesdays at the Bucktown Harbor from 8-noon.

Sierra’s pick of the week

As my year of serving with Market Umbrella as a Serve Louisiana corps member comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on the cyclical nature of produce at the farmers market. There is something so exciting about walking into market and seeing new fruits and veggies appear as one month leads into the next. The abundance and variety of our local produce continues to surprise and astound me: I’ve gotten to taste the first satsumas of the season, to learn how to cook sunchokes, and to appreciate the fractal patterns of Romanesco broccoli buds. Despite steep competition, I think I have to crown heirloom tomatoes as my favorite thing to get at market. Each variety of heirloom tomato differs in taste and falls on a spectrum of beautiful color. Some are juicy and meaty, some are jammy and sweet, and some are earthy and robust. The possibilities are endless, and that’s why I love them. So long, y’all, and thanks for a great year!

- Sierra Carvalho

Vendor of the Week:

Four Winds Seafood

The slow, steamy days of summer are a’prawn us. And, while we say bon voyage, for now, to some of our produce cultivators. We say ahoy to other market favorites like Mrs. Kay and Four Winds Seafood. Sailing into market with beautiful shrimp and seven generations of shrimping expertise, you’re sure to get local, environmentally sustainable seafood. Wanna get your hooks into something shrimply fantastic? Find out when you can catch Four Winds at markets.

Recipe of the Week:

Mom’s Easy Purple Hull Peas

Simple and straight to the point. Moms know best and it shows in this easy recipe. Smokey, salty and a little bit of fat - the essentials for making a great pot o’beans. My secret is to add a splash of pickle juice or apple cider vinegar in the last 10 minutes. Fresh peas are a special seasonal treat and in limited supply! Keep an eye out at market for these purple beauties, another gem of the summer months.

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!