Producer-Only Please! | September 28, 2020

Fresh & Local:

Producer-Only Please!

The Crescent City Farmers Market (CCFM) began in New Orleans in 1995 as a producer-only farmers market connecting customers directly with farmers, fishermen, ranchers, dairies, bakers and food makers within 200 miles of the metro area, and the producer-only standard standard remains in place today. Each CCFM vendor goes through a rigorous onboarding process that includes a site visit - we want to see how and where it’s done. We’ve been on shrimp boats and tractors, through orchards and bayous, and in commercial kitchens throughout the region, to watch, learn, and verify. When it comes to value-added products like baked goods, jams and jellies, we require that these products be made with locally grown produce where possible, a requirement which ensures that even if our value-add producers are not growers, they’re still supporting local agriculture.

Producer-only means that everything you’ll find at CCFM markets is as fresh as possible, harvested nearby and brought straight to market, usually within 1-2 days with no middleman or stopover, and certainly less than the average of 1,500 food miles that the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service estimates most produce in the US travels to reach the end consumer. Producer-only also means that the entire food dollar goes into the hands of the grower giving them a fair and decent wage (a better deal than the $.15 per dollar that finds its way into a producer’s hand through a typical supply chain), and that those dollars continue to circulate in the local economy. Producer-only means you know all of the hands that touch your food along the way, and given the shortened supply chain, when the now inevitable Romaine recalls (or cucumbers, or red onions, or peaches, etc.) happen, you won’t have to pitch your purchase. You’ll know exactly where it came from, including meeting the grower in person!

We could go on and on about the benefits of eating local. If you’d like to learn more, please visit us here.

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.

Co-operative

This week’s Good Food Word is Co-operative – A cooperative, or co-op for short, is a type of business that is owned and operated by its members who all benefit from its profits. Farmers may form a co-op, for example, by pooling their resources, like land and machinery, to build a more robust business. Also, cooperatives have more control over the prices they set, and they have collective buying power which leverages lower prices for bulk purchases. Historically, cooperatives have enabled groups deprived from economic opportunity due to structural racism a way to build community strength outside of the financial systems to which they’ve been denied access. At Crescent City Farmers Markets, the Indian Springs Farmers Association is a joint venture of 30+ small farms from Mississippi that collaborate in growing and distributing their produce. Likewise, vendor VEGGI Farmers Cooperative is a community member owned and operated farmer’s cooperative based out of New Orleans East, begun after Hurricane Katrina to help displaced shrimpers pivot to urban farming. You can find the delicious produce from these cooperatives in the home delivery CCFM Box and at the Uptown Market where Mr. Ben Burkett attends every Tuesday.

Picks of the Week:

Last Chance to Apply for P-EBT

Jewel of the Wild

The first appearance of muscadine grapes at Crescent City Farmers Market reminds us that early-autumn crops and their vendors will be returning to markets soon. Only in season from late August to mid-September, these southern grapes are incredibly disease resistant and usually are found flourishing in the wild, and also cultivated commercially. Painted in sun-glinting hues from bronze (also known as scuppernongs) to deep ruby, several varieties of these juicy, jewel-toned beauties can be found at CCFM in the late summer. Sweet and seeded with a slightly heartier skin, the muscadine is a true superfood full of grape flavor and heart-healthy antioxidants. Traditionally made into wine or jelly, muscadines can be enjoyed fresh and also freeze well, allowing you to save the season and preserve their nutritional value. Find them at all CCFM markets while the season lasts.

Vendor of the Week:

SPROUT NOLA

More than a market vendor, Sunday Drive Thru regular SPROUT NOLA works tirelessly to support established and developing urban farmers in the community. Providing technical and social support to build a stronger, more equipped community of growers here in New Orleans, SPROUT’s unique Truck Farm Table serves as an entry to markets for small-scale farmers and producers to sell their goods and retain their profits. The Truck Farm Table, manned by SPROUT at the CCFM, provides shared rent and table space to very small producers who might not have the volume of product to fill a whole market stall or finances to foot the whole bill or have enough time on hand to attend markets thereby reducing barriers to entering the market. SPROUT’s Refresh Farmers Market which recently moved to the Lafitte Greenway and their Truck Farm Table are often the first step for growers hoping to scale up, and SPROUT supports the development of small and/or new producers to graduate to their own vendor stall within the CCFM markets and on to CSAs or wholesale to our restaurant shoppers or local distributors. The small growers of today are tomorrow’s anchor produce vendors. Together, SPROUT and CCFM are helping to support small growers and create a pipeline to success!

Recipe of the Week:

Southern Muscadine Pie

Peaches are long gone, but we are happy to welcome the grapes of the south! The rich sweetness of muscadines make it particularly great fruit to bake with and if southerners are good at anything, it’s making pie. Skip the jam this year, and try this Garden & Gun muscadine pie recipe.

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!