Our first issue is fast approaching being published, and I'm looking back on the last year or so and how it affected our little project.
At the end of June, my family and I were in Stockholm visiting friends and attending the World Dog Show. Stockholm's a beautiful Scandinavian city, and the surrounding countryside is wild and green. However, arriving on the longest day of the year really did nothing to help our jet lag and sleeping at all during the entire trip was a difficult proposition because of the nearly-midnight sun (never mind the very basic accommodations at the hotel).
Stockholm is very much an international city. Near one of the many walking malls was an outdoor farmers' market. Beautiful looking produce covered about a half acre of open air, and a quick wander through impressed me with the variety available to the citizens. However, on closer inspection I realized that all of the produce (without obvious exception) was from Russia. I wondered how this affected its quality, but there appeared to be no shortage of customers (despite what you see in the photo - there was a slow spot thanks to really bad weather).
Conversely, there were two places that seemed a lot more "local" (though it was very difficult to determine exactly, as my Swedish is frighteningly limited). The first was just outside the entrance to our hotel in Odenplan, a district of Stockholm. It was a tiny grocery, with a small produce area off to one side near the front. You wouldn't notice it to start with, but if you walked over to the produce area your senses were awash in the scent of fresh, unwaxed produce. It smelled very natural.
The other place was a short walk from the open air market, hidden in the basement of one of the buildings in the walking mall. This was a local market the likes of which you would expect to find in any large city, with local foods prepared freshly right in front of you by local people, dressed neatly behind glass cases with the food on display. This was an orgy for the eyes, with a huge variety of fish (of course), meats of every kind and every cut, and of course more produce. Certainly not everything was grown locally at this produce stand but much of it was, including what was a completely different definition of "new potato." This was a small, 1 to 2 inch fingerling potato with what looked like a loose, dirty skin just barely attached to it, which is removed by washing and/or scrubbing before the potatoes are boiled and served with dill and butter. Absolutely gorgeous.
It's with this experience in mind that I come to the various farmers' markets here in Arizona and think that we could certainly do something more, something better. There is talk of permanent and indoor locations for a farmers' market, and that is by far the largest step in the right direction that I can think of. We must get the local consumer and the local producer together in a comfortable, reliable and profitable setting for both parties. And I think we can do it!
