Portland Farmers Market, Portland, OR by Chris

August 11, 2007

I'm sitting in the back of the tour bus driving up from Oregon to Washington. The scenery is spectacular; tall, steep mountains, big slides and sprawling talus fields; pristine blue lakes and a river speckled with choppy whitecaps. I can only type for thirty seconds at a time before my eyes drift back to the stunning view through the window beside me. The composition of this blog post is an effort of extreme dedication, my loyal internet friends.

Today I woke up at 8, which is better than 7, grabbed some tabling materials, and headed off to the Portland Farmers Market on the campus of Portland State University. This city continues to impress! The market was huge, bustling, vibrant, and filled with tables of beautiful fruits and vegetables and cheeses and meats and breads and oils and nuts and pastries and soup and cider and fish and biscuits.. the place was bursting with color and happy shoppers.

Destin and I shared a table with Matty from Hotlips Pizza, a hip Portland eatery (with four locations) that promotes seasonal eating, local food, and Portland culture. Check it out, they're into bikes too!!

Ordinarily, Hotlips brings its ovens to the farmers market to bake delicious pizzas; unfortunately for us, the ovens were in use at another event. Fortunately for us, Hotlips brought along samples of it's newest culinary endeavor: blackberry jam. How, you might wonder, did a pizzeria end up in the jam business? As Matty explained to dozens of curious market goers, the restaurant received a big shipment (1,800 pounds!) of blackberries to be used in its homemade sodas - but the soda-making machine wasn't functional, so rather than let the berries spoil, they made delicious jam. I think I won the prize for most jam samples consumed. Had to be sure the product was consistently tasty, you see.

One of the things I really liked about the Portland Farmers market is that it accepts Oregon Trail Card, Oregon's food assistance program - this is a really great approach because it makes fresh, healthful food available to those who need it most - and simultaneously enables these folks to support local sustainable agriculture. Hopefully this common-sense policy will soon become standard.

The market also boasts a terrific layout; all the stands are arranged in a square around PSU's gorgeous, well-shaded campus green - a perfect space for shoppers to sit, chat, eat, and make new friends. Plus, there's a stage where live music is performed by talented musicians. It's really a great example of effective community building. So two thumbs up for the Portland Farmers Market. and two thumbs up for Portland and all its bicycles.

Article Tag(s):

If you are interested in commenting on this blog, please go to our forum...