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Earth Day Festival

18 Apr

My neighbor, Holly Moore and I went to the Centennial Earth Day Festival yesterday. I was able to pass out a little slip of paper to local companies and farmers that gave out the information of the Woodbine Farmers Market. I was so encouraged that word had already spread to many of them about this new location. Everyone gave me a few minutes to talk their ears off about our ideas and then respectfully beg them to participate. It was the perfect place to see local people in action. There is such a diverse group of people that all feel equally passionate about sustainable living and local endeavors, and I was excited to meet like minded souls. Here are a list of people that I spoke with that could potentially be at our Market.

Weekday Market

18 Apr

I recently received an email from Lisa Shively, founder and editor of the Local Table publication. She was excited to hear that Woodbine wanted to support local products. Her one main concern was farmer participation. Apparently, there is more demand than supply. Local farmers seemed to be getting tapped out by the growing number of Farmers Market’s in the Metro area. With the help of Cindy Murphy, I drafted up a proposal letter and emailed it to all the local farmers. The advantage we have is that we are starting small and only need a few farmers to commit to one weekday evening. The consensus I have gained so far from the Farmers is that they would be open to participating if it was a day other than Saturday.

My immediate thought is that there is no way that Woodbine would be able to support a Farmer’s Market on a weekday. That is my fear speaking. It seems to be a growing trend in Nashville to have your Farmers’ Market on another day other than Saturday. The East Nashville Farmers’ Market is on Wednesday from 3:30-6:30pm. The Vanderbilt Farmers’ Market is on Thursday from 3:00-6:00pm. I think that Wednesday’s from 4-7pm would work great for Woodbine. It would give us maximum drive-by viability and it also coordinates with Avalon Acres CSA drop off. It would be so great to get local produce etc in the middle of the week!

Initial Ideas

16 Apr

Just 4 days after creating a group on Facebook, we have over 60 members. It is clear that there is a desire and need for a Farmers’ Market in our neighborhood. I have had several people who have offered not only their support, but help. I was so thankful to meet with Cindy Murphy, a fellow enthusiastic Woodbine neighbor, and we threw about some initial ideas.

1. The ideal place to hold the Farmers’ Market would be at Coleman Park- Community Center. This would give us great drive by exposure and would also help support the center.

2. The initial goal is to have once a month Market days for the July-October 2010 season

3. We are planning on holding it on Tuesday’s  from 4:00-7:00pm

4. All the produce and protein sold would have to be locally grown. That means that it   must be grown within a 150mile radius of Nashville.

5. We will aim to accept Food Stamps at the Market (more on this later)

6. This Market would be accessible to all demographics, races, cultures, and income levels. This will not be about elite, privileged consumption, but rather a  representation of the whole Woodbine area.

7. We would market the Farmers’ Market in both English and Spanish and hopefully Arabic.

We would love to know your own ideas and desires for the Farmers’ Market, so please leave us a comment.

Inspiration

15 Apr

After watching several compelling documentaries on the local food movement and sealing it with reading “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsover, I decided to embark on a new journey: Bringing fresh, local, seasonal food to our community of Woodbine.

I think it is vitally important to know where our food comes from, know what is used to grow it and have a choice about what we consume. At the root of this mission is education. Without knowing why this is important, or understanding the philosophy it will be hard to adequately support the movement. This being said, I encourage you to watch these following documentaries if you are able and willing.

Food, Inc http://www.foodincmovie.com/

The Future of Food http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

No Impact Man http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

Fast Food Nation http://www.foxsearchlight.com/fastfoodnation/

Monsanto Patent for Pig http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1669587865067156619#

Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution- aired on ABC every Friday http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

Welcome

11 Apr

Welcome to the official site for the Woodbine Farmers Market. Even though we are just a concept right now, I am determined to turn this idea into actual existence. This blog will document that very journey. Eventually, this site will go from a blogsite to the official website of the Woodbine Farmers’ Market. I invite you to subscribe and support our community in this endeavor. Together let’s see change made in Woodbine.

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