Farmers' Market!

After much RIFTA research, on Saturday, November 19^th we finally made it down to the Pawtucket Winter Farmer’s Market!  Despite some logistical challenges (I may or may not have jumped the gun in getting us off the bus a few stops too soon…) we finally arrived and were very pleasantly surprised.  The market, which spans the long hallway of an enormous old industrial building, offers everything from apples and brussel sprouts to music and hand cream.

Before making any purchases, we took some time to simply walk up and down the hallway, taking in the colorful displays of foods and local goods (not to mention the free samples!).  Many stands offer the same vegetables or fruits, so it is a good idea to survey the prices and qualities at different stands (we made the mistake of buying the only $1.50 garlic clove in the market—the rest were marked at $1).  Besides basic fruits and vegetables, there are also great offerings in terms of prepared foods made with local ingredients.  Much to our pleasure, we found everything from local pasta and tomato sauce to crepes, bread, and other pastries. 

With the prepared foods we also found it helpful to inquire about how local the ingredients were.  For most stands all the ingredients were grown locally, but when we asked about the ingredients of a salad dressing we learned that the major ingredients (olive oil, vinegar) were not local.  Of course items such as olive oil are more difficult to come by locally (unfortunately, not everything can be grown in RI), but it certainly impacted our decision of whether we wanted spend $7 on a salad dressing that wasn’t completely local (ultimately, we opted not to).

Because of the generosity of Brown’s fabulous Market Shares, we did not have too much left to buy at the Farmers’ Market for our local day meal, but we did make some purchases.

We bought: a clove of garlic ($1.50), fresh pasta ($8), fresh mozzarella ($5), and tomato sauce ($6) to complete our Market Share meals. 

For anyone else who would like to venture down to the market (I would highly suggest it!) this calendar of when fruits and vegetables are in season is extremely helpful in planning meals. 

Even when eating “non-locally” in dining halls or Providence restaurants it’s useful to know what is in season (and therefore more likely to have been grown locally).  For instance, right now (November-December) if there is asparagus in the Ratty, chances are it was not grown in RI.  Good to know, right?

Also, a word on RIFTA and buses: RIFTA is free with your Brown ID (and the 99 bus takes you straight to Pawtucket!).  Nevertheless, be sure to plan the bus you want to take both ways.  We made the mistake of assuming we could catch the same bus back to College Hill, and ended up waiting 40 minutes. This problem can easily be avoided, it just requires a bit of planning. If you get a routine down, it would be a snap!