Support your local food producers
As part of my annual effort to ignore the Bite of Seattle, one of those festivals that actually WAS much cooler back in the day and now sucks, I headed out to beautiful downtown Ballard to meet a friend for chai at Mr. Spot’s Chai House. Post-spiced tea goodness, we made our way over to the world-famous Archie McPhee’s, stopping off along the way at the Ballard Sunday Market. If you’re not already aware of the great tradition of local “farmer’s markets” in the Puget Sound area, you’re missing out. There are many and each one has something to offer. The Ballard Sunday Market runs all year, others are seasonal. Every Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm a segment of Ballard Ave NW is closed to traffic to host a plethora of local food producers and craftspeople. Fresh salmon, fresh vegetables, artisan cheeses and breads, vegetarian meals and all sorts of snacks are available along with unique clothing, accessories, jewelry, and unique handcrafted art. It’s a great little market and as a bonus, since it’s Ballard you know there will always be the most interesting mixture of people.
Ballard’s Farmer’s Market is a great, eclectic blend of vendors. West Seattle’s is almost exclusively focused on food and horticulture. Broadway’s features live music and cooking demos. If you’re like me and enjoy grocery shopping, you will love being able to “meet the producers” (as they say at the Pike Place Market) and be exposed to fruits and vegetables you may never have previously considered. If you hate grocery shopping, you will still love the markets for their value and convenience.
If you need more info on local open air markets, visit the web site for the Neighborhood Famers Market Alliance Markets which is all about the Seattle markets or the King County Puget Sound Area Farmers Markets page, which offers listings of farmers markets in King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Pierce, Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Like most people, I have my tried and true favorite foods, but I honestly can say that some of the best meals I’ve ever had have been meals put together from random ingredients bought at a farmers market. Having a vendor who knows his or her product well enough to present all of its possibilities makes for happy shopping and having a fresh made meal from fresh made food makes for very, very happy eating.
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If you want to take it a step further even, lots of area farms are open to the public and have ongoing stands right there on site. Heh, it’s like not onlt meeting the producers but getting to go backstage. :)
http://www.pugestsoundfresh.org