Where do you get fresh local produce and ingredients?

- How do you find fresh produce from nearby farms?
- Where are the best local farmer's markets?
- Can you taste the difference between tomatoes grown in Virginia and tomatoes grown in Belgium?

The Washington region is perfectly positioned between the land and the sea to get the best of both worlds—fresh seafood from the east, and delicious vegetables and meats from our neighboring farms. But many foodies it's surprisingly difficult to get local products from farm to plate.
Today, we examine the "locavore" movement and the culinary adventures enco.... Help us compile a list of excellent resources and seasonal cooking secrets.

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Permalink Reply by Myra Ceasar on June 17, 2009 at 1:35pm: Hi Brendan ~ I would recommend the following markets in the DC Metro Area: Eastern Market, Capital Hill DC (Grand Re-Opening on June 26th next week). Check out their website at www.easternmarketdc.com.

I would also recommend the Crystal Farms Market in Arlington, VA on Tuesdays (http://crystalcity.org/) and the Columbia Pike Farmers Market on Sundays (www.cpro.org)

At all three of these markets, you can find fresh meats, dairy, fruits & veggies, pastries, coffee, tea, crafts & more.

The best thing to do is to check them out & compare.

Happy Marketing ;-)

Myra Ceasar
TeaCo LLC
www.tea-co.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Eris Norman on June 17, 2009 at 3:13pm: CSA shares still available in Potomac, Chevy Chase, and Bethesda, MD for the 2009 season. My husband, brother in law and myself run two roadside produce locations in Montgomery County and a growing CSA program. In Chevy Chase we are located on Jones Mill Rd at the East West Highway intersection daily from late May until Thanksgiving. In Bethesda we are located on Massachusetts Ave at the entrance to Westland Middle School next to the Little Falls Library. We are open daily from Thursday, June 18th through Labor Day. WE ARE 100% LOCAL with an amazing network of small family farmers in our area. Check us out at www.NormansFarmMarket.com.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brendan Sweeney (WAMU 88.5) on June 18, 2009 at 11:36am: THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!!!! We got a lot of responses during and after the show, and some cool suggestions for future shows.

As noted, we are trying to pull together a list of resources and integrate them into a google-maps app. This is still in a testing phase, but we'd love to get some feedback if you have any time.

http://wamu.org/programs/kn/extra/food_map.php

In terms of future shows, got any cool / compelling ideas for produce-related programming? We were throwing around the idea of doing something on cooking philosophies /cooking without a recipe. Maybe an August show on WHAT THE HECK DO I DO WITH ALL THESE CHEAP, DELICIOUS TOMATOES?!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Aline Solange Santos-Wysham on June 19, 2009 at 11:19am: Hi all,

Are the fresh produce in Farmer's market usually organic? How can I be sure?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brendan Sweeney (WAMU 88.5) on June 19, 2009 at 11:23am: Our guest who runs the CSA explained that he didn't pursue organic certification because his customers knew that he was producing veggies without chemicals... in other words...eating local, from a source you know and trust, trumps eating organic.

A number of the farmers markets above place a premium on organic, though.

Aline Solange Santos-Wysham said:
Hi all,

Are the fresh produce in Farmer's market usually organic? How can I be sure?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Richard on June 20, 2009 at 8:35am: Every Wednesday and Saturday, Rockville has a Growers only Farmer's Market. It's not that large, but it's pretty decent, and in addition to fruits, vegetables, and plants, there are some Amish vendors who sell meat and eggs.

http://www.rockvillemd.gov/events/farmers.htm

For tomatoes - nothing beats home grown! There's nothing better than going out to your garden, picking a sun-warmed tomato, and eating it with mayonnaise and salt on some good bread - yum, can't wait!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stellaria on June 29, 2009 at 4:17pm: Wow, it sounds as though VA has a lot more options in fresh local food and CSAs, than PG in Maryland. I joined a CSA a couple of years ago, but it was/is rather pricey for my budget. I am glad to hear about the Riverdale FM, and will try and get there, because I have not joined a CSA this year :-(.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Norm on August 13, 2009 at 9:30am: Is there a Farm that sells Roma tomatoes? I've been to a few in MD but no luck with Romas.

Norm; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loie (WAMU 88.5) on August 13, 2009 at 10:37am: Jim & Moie Kimball Crawford of New Morning Farm near Hustontown, PA, -- http://newmorningfarm.net/ -- have been bringing their own and neighbors' organic produce to DC for over 30 years. I have been their customer for 25 of those years and have never been disappointed. In addition to fruit & veg (some of them quite exotic), they offer homemade baked goods, artisanal cheeses, jams, and the best apple cider you will ever taste. Their sweet corn defies description. In the fall there are at least a dozen varieties of apples. I cannot praise them enough! Here is their schedule:
Sheridan School, 36th Street & Alton Place, NW (1 block east of Reno): every Saturday from early June to mid-March, 8am to 1pm + Tuesday evenings from early June to end of September, 4pm to 8pm + winter Saturdays, 9am to 1pm
also
Dupont Circle Farmer's Market, 20th & Q Streets, NW: every Sunday, May to Thanksgiving, 9am to 1pm
Enjoy!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christine S. Boya on September 18, 2009 at 11:05am: The best farmers market I've seen in the DC area is in Takoma Park. and it's year round. My favorite farm is Butlers Orchard in Germantown MD. I taught a class this summer to children in a DC public charter school about fruits and vegetables. I'm looking to continue and bring the kids to a farm as well.I think besides looking for ourselves, we foodies, locavores, gourmets etc. need to get the word out on fresh food. more people need to know about these markets and take part. maybe we need a "take a friend to a fresh food market day".
anyone seen the movie Food Inc?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob Brown on September 18, 2009 at 12:50pm: Thank you or the information. : O ); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Verna Marquez on September 30, 2009 at 2:34pm: If you'd like to know more about locally sourced food, there are two user-created google maps that may be helpful to people interested in increasing their locavore selections. One is the food finder map that is at dcfoodfinderdotorg. The other can be found through the Ecolocity Website at ecolocitydotningdotcom, and is interactive in that you can still add information to it. These include information on everything from farmer's markets and community gardens to where to get green products. If you know someone combating hunger, there are more resources on dcfoodfinder to assist them in obtaining help.

Personally, I've found that it's nice to go to a different market from time to time, it diversifies my palette, while creating opportunities to learn about a range of local issues and projects. I love that this discussion is happening here, in an online forum! Eat on!; ▶ Reply to This