"markets" news and stories

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus but there is no such thing as a peach orchard on Fifth Avenue. Until now.

From October through January, the 75-year-old kings of the fruit basket, Harry & David, are bringing "pop-up orchards" as imagined by the king of restaurant design, David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group, to 16 cities across the country, from Fairfax, Virginia, to Manhattan's Fifth Avenue to the land of Georgia peaches, Atlanta (in the Lenox Square Mall). Channeling the company's Oregon roots, Harry & David re-creates the mood and pick-your-own experience of a country (albeit high-style country) farmstand, taking to the outdoors with the temporary markets featuring their Royal Riviera comice pears, Honeycrisp apples, and preserves made from sweet Oregold Peaches, and of course, the mile-high towers of fruit in gift baskets.

Genoa, the culinary capital of the region of Liguria in Italy, has one of the most colorful indoor food markets that I have ever been to - Mercato Orientale. Some of the narrow cobblestone streets surrounding the market are permeated by a smell of fresh focaccia bread. As you enter the market, you'll notice various cheese stalls, meat stalls, and bakeries that border the market. In the center, there are produce stalls with some of the brightest fruits and vegetables that I have ever seen.

The produce display is gorgeous and informative. Each item has a sign explaining where in Italy it's from. The vendors are more than willing to explain what makes their produce unique and the best way to eat it. If you speak even minimal Italian, I encourage you to interact with these friendly vendors. For me the highlight of the market was the produce.

If you live in a large city in the U.S., you can find nearly any kind of produce, but often it's in questionable condition. Either it's way too under ripe or the quality is just horrendous. At the Mercato Orientale, I was overwhelmed by the incredible quality of nearly every vegetable and fruit. If you're going to be in Genoa, I highly suggest you visit this market located at the corner of Via 20 Settembre and Via Galata.

On Saturdays, when you enter the bright colored 17th-century colonial town of San Angel, a suburb of Mexico City, there is an outdoor crafts market in the Plaza San Jacinto. Not only can you find a large selection of handicrafts, but you will also see vendors selling rich sweet candied fruits and fresh fruits with chili seasonings. The highlight of any culinary trip to San Angel is the enclosed food market just around the corner from the square.

Upon entering this market, you'll notice the aroma of fresh tacos and the smell of salty pork rinds being fried and seasoned with chili pepper. Taquerias and butchers border the market. The middle is full of poultry stands, produce vendors, and incredible vendors of chilies and moles.

I highly suggest checking out Don Felix for all things related to chilies and moles. If you speak and understand Spanish, I encourage you to talk with Felix about his different products. I purchased two different kinds of chili peppers: arbol and ancho. He explained that chilies arboles are hotter while the ancho are more mild. Finally, he explained how to prepare them in making salsas and other Mexican dishes. His mole almendrado was extremely delicious cooked with chicken. Check out the gallery below and see the market for yourself.

Marion Nestle says that when she talks to people, she hears "this phenomenal sense of despair about their inability to do anything about climate change, or the disparity between rich and poor." A despair that she says is alleviated by a trip to the grocery store where "they can make decisions about what they are buying and send a very clear message." Perhaps people really do express these sentiments to her, but unless specifically directed, it seems unlikely that most people make the connection between relieving their feeling of despair over the "disparity between rich and poor" and shopping for groceries - in this case, probably organic ones.

But it is true that consumers have the power to change the marketplace and that they are doing it every day with the decisions they make at the grocery store, as The Economist mentioned in a recent article. The organic food industry is growing by leaps and bounds and there is an ever-increasing call for higher-quality food, held to higher standards, whether they are organic, local, fair-trade, hormone-free, etc.

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Food safety inspectors in New York have their hands full regulating the sale of illegal meats. And they're not talking about foie gras. Markets all over the city carry exotic meats to cater to immigrants who are used to fare beyond chicken and beef. Inspectors have found everything from armadillos to cow lungs to gorilla meat and a lot of it is illegal.

The issue is not necessarily about which animals are being eaten - although it is illegal to eat endangered or threatened species (like gorillas) - but is instead about the lack of regulation of these meats. Neither the shopkeepers nor the customers necessarily know about food safety, and when the shopkeepers don't uphold the state and federal standards, anyone who purchases from them could be at risk. Unprocessed meats or meat prepared outside of a certified and inspected facility can contain potentially dangerous bacteria, like salmonella or botulism. Some of these "exotic" meats are perfectly permissible - turtles, frogs, iguana and armadillos - if they come from a licensed facility, although they rarely do.

One of the primary issues is that inspectors find the food being sold in heavily immigrant neighborhoods, where language can be a barrier between food safety guidelines and those selling the food. The city health department supports ordering business owners to take state-approved food safety courses that teach about hygiene and cross contamination in an effort to continue their goal of preventing food-related sickness or epidemics.

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