Disappointing Farmers Market
A perk of the new neighborhood is our proximity to the Portland Farmers Market. We can hop the Streetcar to the South Park Blocks. The main market is held on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday, we made our first trip. It was exciting because I loved the Baltimore Farmers Market. Those Sunday mornings brought great coffee, awesome muffins, good Thai for a later lunch and all the fruits and vegetables we needed for the week. I was hoping to recreate this experience in Portland.
As we road the Streetcar; it became apparent others were on their way to the market. As we arrived, I wasn't surprised by the crowd. It was close to 11am, so we might want to arrive earlier. Even though Baltimore's market finished around 1130am, Portland's market runs until 230pm. I am thinking, its still best to visit earlier than later. We had to make our way through pushy lines to grab some good coffee.
As we walked through all the vendors, my disappointment rose. I couldn't find a decent muffin. Finally, in the last row, I was able to find a vendor. She made a tasty zucchini carrot, but was rude to me. We couldn't find anyone selling basic fruits and vegetables. All fresh vegetable vendors only carried greens and root based items. All the prices were outrageous. The rest of the vendors consisted of artisans. If you needed pickled asparagus, expensive goat cheese or diet controlled beefed, you'd have no issues with this market. Maybe its too early in the spring for an array of fresh vegetables? That being said, it is almost May.
After only purchasing coffee and a single muffin, Teresa and I left the market. From what I can tell, Portland's Farmers Market caterers to a different crowd. It servers a group that is willing to pay a crazy price for spinach. It caters to people who enjoy exotic food options. I am not saying, I don't like or enjoy a different food experience. In fact, I seek these out. However, I thought the purpose of a Farmers Market was to create a bridge between farmer and consumer. This bridge was to supply affordable and high quality fresh food to sustain a community. In the end, the farmers reap higher profits and the consumers enjoyed extremely fresh goods with a few bucks to spare. This doesn't seem to be the case at this particular market.
I am not going to entirely give up on the Portland Farmers Market. They have a few other instances throughout the week. A Thursday version is just east of us in the Pearl. I am hoping it is smaller, and daily-use food is sold. If I am looking for the most eclectic Farmers Market, I've found it here in Portland. That type of experience has its place, but I was hoping for something different. I would have liked to replace half of my grocery shopping with a fun and enjoyable trip to a sustainable farmers market.
Comments
Hi - I run the coffee booth "Cafe Velo". I hope you enjoyed your coffee once through the line if you were visiting us ;-) I'd say give the market a few more chances later in the season when the variety and breadth of products really hits its stride... Productg mix really improves later in the spring and summer and prices tend to get more reasonable as more becomes available and there's more competition between vendors. Early a.m. is good if you want to do serious shopping before the masses seeking music, fresh air and people watching arrive with strollers and dogs and make it hard to tote your produce. We're already seeing much bigger crowds than ever so far this year, so I have a feeling that all farmers market shopping in Portland is going to require some patience.
