posted 06/23/11 06:30 AM | updated 06/23/11 08:00 AM
Views: 3824 | Comments : 8 | Food & Drink

New pro foodie-only farmers market coming to Capitol Hill

By jseattle
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With Capitol Hill quickly becoming home to some of the best chefs in the city, a new farmers market starting next month will also make it home to some of the best chef shopping of the summer.  Organizers have announced that Mt. Zion Baptist Church's parking lot will be the home for the new Seattle Wholesale Market that was first piloted for a short trial last year in Interbay.

The market will bring a weekly bounty of fruit, vegetables and fresh meats and seafood from across the region to 19th and Madison every Wednesday morning from July 20 through August 31st. Before you foodie civilians get too excited, note that this market is aimed at commercial operations and will be set up for volume buys. We're talking crates of 15 heads of lettuce or buying ground beef in 20-pound increments.

Lucy Norris, project manager for The Puget Sound Food Network, says, in addition to bringing farm fresh products direct to Seattle's food and drink providers, the market is a win for Washington farmers. "The good news here is that since the producer is moving volumes and doesn't have to pay margins for delivery, they can sell at wholesale prices.  PSFN operates this market and does not take a cut off of transactions.  THE FARM KEEPS ALL THE PROFITS," she told us via e-mail.

The network is a project of the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, a non-profit "dedicated to farmland preservation by helping to make farming in the region more profitable," according to the media release about the new market.

Buyers will need to show their commercial credentials to shop. The market says business license info is enough or a t-shirt with a food-oriented business logo, if you're thinking you might want to do some summer canning.

Norris said buyers should have some fun choices during the market's brief window of operations:

Since we're only running the market for 7 weeks and this growing season has been cruel, we'll see lots of different kinds of berries, locally produced meats, all types of seasonal produce and maybe some wild seafood.  Last year I invited a few vendors who brought about fifty different varieties of organic heirloom tomatoes and melons from Eastern Washington.  I'm inviting them back this year.  There's also a vendor that grows things like epazote, chiles, squash blossoms, and the like.  Great for the Mexican inspired menu.

We've also attached an example fresh sheet from last season that will give you an idea of the scope of items offered -- and prices. The market, by the way, is free to participate in -- just don't forget that logo t-shirt.

Beyond the fresh fare on area restaurant tables and the better economic opportunity for state farmers, the market will also be a win for Mt. Zion. You might recall that the church parking lot used to be home to the Seattle farmers market that is now hosted at the nearby Grocery Outlet on MLK. Norris said that the wholesale market vendors will be directing any food donations to Mt. Zion kitchen in return for using the space.  According to Norris, Mt. Zion prepares meals for many church programs and the church is looking forward to improving the quality of the foods they use in their recipes.

Interested shoppers should set their alarm clocks for 8:45 AM on Wednesdays starting July 20th. To receive the market fresh sheet, you can subscribe by mailing info@psfn.org. You can learn more at http://www.psfn.org/seattle-market.

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Play fair, anyone?
So it's wholesale, but all you need is a t-shirt to get those prices? How incredibly short-sighted. If all you care about is price, go to Costco. If you support the local food movement, go to a legit farmers market and ask the farmer for a bulk discount (canners do this all the time). The goal of a grant-funded WHOLESALE market should be to link farmers with restaurant and commercial buyers. Encouraging retail buyers unfairly competes with existing farmers markets, which cannot waive their tiny stall fees or profits (they have staff who rely on them for paychecks). Puget Sound Food Network needs to look at the bigger picture, and work WITH farmers markets, not against them.
Comment by Skeptic
11 months ago
RE: Play fair, anyone?
Any commercial operation should easily be able to produce a copy of their resale certificate which should be the documentation required. Shirt? Lame!
Comment by Restaurant owner
11 months ago
RE: Play fair, anyone?
You should know that the Wholesale Market - at the Seattle or Mt Vernon site- is not a pretty, browse-able, shopper-friendly marketplace. It is a "pick up and pay" site for businesses, and orders are placed in advance from the weekly wholesale market fresh sheet. You can see Videos from last year on Seattle and Skagit Markets here: Seattle: http://www.psfn.org/seattle-market/ Skagit: http://www.psfn.org/skagitmarket/

In general, because of the business relationship focus, we discourage non-business entities like home-canners to shop at this site. PSFN will not be advertising the market to home canners or buying clubs and we do not encourage their involvement. Last year, we left things rather loose but this year, for security purposes, we will be requiring some form of business identification (biz license) as buyers enter the site to purchase or pick-up.

Puget Sound Food Network believes producers can achieve a higher degree of economic stability through customer diversification- by moving local food beyond high end outlets- and will help protect our regional foodshed by keeping farms in our region. We help all scales of producers reach their sales goals so they can decrease risk. And buyers such as daycare centers, hospitals, senior centers AND restaurants and grocery stores- can access local food at more affordable prices, and the farm gets a fairer price for what they produce. It's worth starting something.
Comment by Lucy Norris, Puget Sound Food
11 months ago
Farmers Markets
I think we should have a farmer's market where all of the organic, local, free range, low carbon footprint, low water footprint, living wage, certified humane, windfall, and fare trade produce is so rare and expensive that it rots in the stalls.
Comment by Greenlake1
11 months ago
RE: Farmers Markets
What does that even mean?
Comment by hmm
11 months ago
Foodie's Food Market
I know this maket will be selling primarily to wholesalers. However, at the end of the day will their produce that's teeterig on unsalability be donated to local foodbanks? I realize that Capitol Hill & the Central Area have upscaled tremendously over the last number of years; however, there are still hidden and not-so-hidden people who are hungry in this part of town.
Comment by KathrynM
11 months ago
RE: Foodie's Food Market
Great Point KathrynM! That's precisely why we are joining forces with Mt Zion this year. Mt Zion and five other Seattle churches are part of a groundbreaking project with the University of Washington School of Nursing called Moving Together in Faith and Health. They are working to stem the tide of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes in their surrounding community. Mount Zion's Senior Pastor, Rev. Aaron Williams says this partnership comes at a crucial time. "As we move together to implement policies that promote healthy eating and active living in our churches, our partnership with PSFN and its Seattle Wholesale Market will make fresh, locally grown produce affordable and accessible. We are empowering our churches and our community by giving them healthy options." Farm vendors will be funneling food donations to the church at the end of each market day. That food will be ingredients for recipes in their meal programs. Other church kitchens, daycare centers, senior centers, and food banks will also be encouraged to participate. PSFN is hoping the site will help streamline deliveries made through their CPPW Farm to Table partnership led by Seattle Human Services. Here's a recent blog post http://psfn.org/blog/2011/06/farm-to-table-update-early-lear
Comment by Lucy Norris, Puget Sound Food
10 months ago
Madrona Farmers Market @ MLK & Union
The correct name for the farmers market held at Grocery Outlet at MLK & Union every Friday from 3-7 p.m. is:

Madrona Farmers Market.

Learn more at our blog:

http://madronafarmersmarket.wordpress.com/

We have no affiliation with this wholesale market. Indeed, this is the first we've heard of it in the neighborhood.
Comment by Seattle Farmers Market Associa
11 months ago