"markets" news and stories

I thought it was just in my neck of the woods that small ethnic grocery stores were the place to go for the hard to find supplies I need for my multicultural cooking and lifestyle. It seems that all over the country, folks are traveling to seek out small markets to find Sriracha sauce, real leaf lard, weird and tasty candy, black chickens, exotic produce, interesting spices, and Asian condiments. This is the exact opposite of one trend I reported recently where some neighborhood grocery stores are tailoring their wares to fit the local cultural profile. These are stores that focus on specific products, and people seek them out for what they consider traditional foods or for items that are difficult to come by in the more generic supermarkets.

I have a few places I go to and they aren't just smaller places like my local New Golden Village in Scarsdale and Meiji-Ya in Hartsdale, NY. There is Kam Sen Asian Market with locations in Flushing and White Plains, NY and the large, if not enormous purveyor of ethnic foods like Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, NJ, one of nine locations in three states, primarily CA. So, do you have specialized ethnic markets that you seek out in your area?

Source

We're not talking about the many farmers' markets that occur everyday all over southern California. The Farmers' Market in LA is a permanent fixture on Fairfax Avenue between Third and Beverly.

The beauty of the Farmers' Market is that though there are shops that sell produce, there are far more stalls in the marketplace that serve food, with everything from pizza to frozen yogurt to Korean barbecue to Cajun gumbo. It's somewhat like a mall food court, since it is in the same block as the Grove (in fact, the Farmers' Market was there long before the Grove was even a twinkle in a developer's eye), but so much better. I don't think there's a Hot Dog on a Stick within a mile of the place.

Lots of LA local foodbloggers have written up posts about many of the "restaurants" in the Farmers' Market:

1. Bob's Coffee and Doughnuts: la.foodblogging likes the "Kitty" doughnut
2. French Crepe Company: All Forces
3. The Gumbo Pot: Eating LA, Daily Gluttony
4. LA Korea: Eating LA
5. Loteria Grill: Eating LA and Franklin Avenue
6. Monsieur Marcel: Colleen Cuisine
7. Singapore's Banana Leaf: Santos on vacation from The Scent of Green Bananas, is at Meet Me at the Corner of Third and Fairfax, Eating LA's Pat Saperstein kicks off her occasional series on the Farmers Market here
8. Ulysses Voyage: (technically, might not be a part of the Farmers' Market, but close enough) LA Food Crazy

There are so many food issues to think about when you hit the market to do grocery shopping.  Store brand versus national brand. Sale versus regular. Organic vs conventional. Locally grown vs imported. Every company is promoting at least one thing (sometimes all things) at a time.With organics going mainstream, and organic farms getting larger and more efficient/industrial, more community and eco-conscious people are turning towards supporting local growers and patronizing farmers markets, rather than blindly opting for organics of unknown origin.

Following this trend and keeping itself ahead of the curve, Whole Foods has just pledged to spend an additional $10 million each year to further support locally grown foods. John Mackey one of the co-founders of Whole Foods said that some stores "would use parts of their parking lots on Sundays to host open-air markets for nearby farms and [all] would redouble efforts to buy from local producers."

The question is, will this move encourage you to shop at Whole Foods, knowing that you are more likely to be supporting local growers/producers that you might not otherwise have access to?

Source

Though Disney is ending their partnership with McDonalds and their toys will not be appearing in kids' meals, their brand will still reach its young, target audience. Disney has signed a deal with the supermarket chain Tesco to have Disney-branded fruit appear in all its stores in the UK and Europe. The goal of the campaign is, of course, marketing, though the companies say that encouraging healthy eating is important to them, too. Right now, Tesco is carrying satsuma oranges with special collectible stickers that feature characters like Winnie the Pooh. Apples and bananas will soon follow.

Disney isn't limiting this promotion to work with the British chain. It has branded baby tomatoes in France and mini bananas in Germany. There are plans to follow suit in the US over the next month or so, as well.

 

Source

In a move that should boost London's Borough Market plans are afoot to establish a food school, a Food Centre of Excellence.

It is planned that the Centre will promote healthy eating and offer courses for children on how to cook at home using seasonal foods. Borough Market is soon to be twinned with the wounderful La Boqueria Market in Barcelona which has its own food school. The one in Southwark would be self financing with a café and a boookshop but the Borough Market Trust, a registered charity, aims to raise £250,000 to refurbish a building occupying 1 Cathedral Street to create the Food School in.

Both the English and Spanish markets are applying for EU funding to support the twinning. They plan to mount exchange visits in which stallholders from the Catalan market would offer Spanish delicacies in Southwark and vice-versa. 

La Boqueria, is a colourful covered market which operates 6 days a week just off Las Ramblas in the heart of Barcelona. The current structure dates from 1914, but the market's history stretches back to the 13th century. 

Source