Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Webb City Sentinel market column - Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Good news. Melon season is here. Cantaloupe made its debut at the market yesterday. Watermelons are expected on Saturday. We typically have four or more farms that plant large melon fields so now that the crops are ready for harvest we should see tables full of many kinds and sizes. I hope so because I have my own plan for market melons.
We have been working for several years on ideas to maximize the use of the market kitchen and also find ways to use surplus produce. One very successful project has been the free kids meal which uses a lot of our produce. In fact, when the state audited the program last year, the auditor was amazed that almost 50% of our ingredients were purchased from our farmers. She said no other program in the state came close to that
percentage. And I believe her.

I review all sorts of programs as a grantreviewer and also try to keep up with what other local foods programs are doing. Typically farm to table programs have a goal of 10% to 20% of their ingredients being local produce. We aim higher.
So I've ordered containers and sharpened my chef knife and just as soon as the melon harvest is large enough that there are melons at the end of the market day, I plan to buy the surplus and make fresh fruit salads.
I expect to also add some store-bought fruit like grapes, but the salads will primarily be cantaloupe and watermelon, two of my own favorite foods. I hope our customers will be interested since our melons are delicious. But melons can also be rather large, so I'm hoping those customers who can't manage to eat a full melon will choose a salad once or twice or three times a week. All profits will go to help with market expenses. Win-win-win. Farmers sell all their melons, customers get a new ready-to-eat local product, and the market becomes more sustainable. Watch for the new Market brand fruit salad in a week or so.
The market will be open tomorrow from 11 to 2. The free kids meal will be a meat and cheese burrito, cherry tomatoes, sliced peaches, and milk. It will be served in the large tent north of the pavilion and is free to any child aged 1 through 18.
On Saturday kids get two free meals: Breakfast, served warm and packed to-go, is “Chunky-Monkey Morning Oats, with peanut butter and banana, plus milk. The kids can also pick up a sack lunch of a club wrap with market greens, market veggies, and milk.
The Chert Glades Master Naturalists serve Cooking for a Cause. Enjoy scrambled eggs, hashbrown casserole, biscuit and gravy or jammin' biscuit, sausage, local tomato slices, and juice or coffee for $6. Just Jake & Corky play. Music and meals run from 9 to 11.
Tuesday is Eat Street at the Market and there will be lots of food truck choices: Ghetto Taco, Culver Creek BBQ, Flounders (fish and chips and more), Smack Dab (Southern comfort food), Songbird's Kitchen (Asian specialties), MaMa JoJo's (pasta and more), and Squeezers Lemonade. Andrew Ballantyne plays. The food trucks are at the market between 4 and 8, while the produce, meat, and other vendors are at the market until 7 every Tuesday evening.
One of the things I love about our Eat Street food trucks is their camaraderie. Far from being cut-throat competitors, they fully understand that having a variety of food choices means more customers and more business for everyone. That's part of the market's philosophy too – our vendors understand that having successful vendors is good for all the vendors, as well as for the market and the customers. That's why vendors will recommend another vendor if they don't have what you're looking for. They support each other and also want our customers to have a successful shopping trip. One more reason to love the market.