Modified Walk Up Markets to Return | June 22, 2020

Fresh & Local:

Modified Walk Up Markets to Return

In March, Market Umbrella suspended our usual market operations to address ways to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 to our market community. While we recognized that an outdoor market is safer than a grocery store, farmers markets act as a community gathering space, and even when we implemented social distancing and limited the number of customers in the market space, many customers and vendors were not yet distancing themselves.

Now that more people understand the need to physically distance themselves and wear masks while in public, we believe we can implement precautions to keep shoppers, vendors and staff safe at a modified outdoor market. It is our great pleasure to open a modified walk up market on Tuesdays beginning July 7th from 8 am – noon at Uptown Square.

Customers can expect:

Vendors: To be widely spaced and enforce social distancing at their stalls, wear masks, not offer samples, accept tokens and encourage exact change and contactless forms of payment such as Venmo or WhatsGood (farmers market preorder).

Market Staff: To wear and offer masks, no beverages or music, provide sanitizing stations, sell tokens and sanitize the keypad after each transaction, use Open Table for reservations to limit crowd size within the market.

Shoppers: Will be required to wear masks, leave pets at home, limit group size to two, shop quickly, and limit socializing.

We look forward to this return to a new normal. Please note, many of our vendors and shoppers are in a higher risk category for complications from Covid-19. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping these community members safe. For updates, including vendor lineup, check out our Facebook event here.

If these changes are not amendable to you at this time, we encourage you to participate in one of our drive thru markets or box delivery.

Good Food Word of the Week:

While Market Umbrella is known for our farmers markets and fresh food access programs, food systems work touches on many social, economic, and environmental issues. The Good Food Word of the Week seeks to shed some light on these parts of our work and the way we talk – demystifying the jargon.

Chronic Disease

This week’s Good Food Word is Chronic Disease – Chronic diseases are long term medical conditions like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension that require ongoing care and often limit daily activities. Six in ten adults in America suffer from at least one chronic disease, which are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Chronic diseases are even more prevalent in Communities of Color, especially in the wake of Covid 19. Health differences are often due to economic and social conditions that are more common among African Americans than whites. For example, African American adults are more likely to report they cannot see a doctor because of cost. All Americans should have equal opportunities to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Learn more here.

Picks of the Week:

CCFM Drive Thru Markets

Keep on drivin’ on! We now have two weekly Drive Thru Markets – Sundays at Parkway Bakery and Tavern and Wednesdays at Bucktown Harbor. Drive Thru markets are different than traditional markets, but not complicated:

1. Order and pay in advance (with debit/credit or SNAP). You must place an order in advance to shop at these markets.
2. We’ll email you a placard to print and fill out with your name and the vendors who you’ve shopped from to place in your windshield the day of market (this helps us expedite your visit once at market)
3. Arrive and drive through the market and the vendor will place your order in your trunk
4. Repeat as needed!

When you arrive, staff will guide you to enter the market, make sure your placard is complete and in your windshield, and help you pop your trunk if needed.

All vendors will be wearing face masks, sanitizing hands between customers, and respecting social distancing guidelines. There will not be product displayed for purchase – the market is only for orders to be picked up. Find more information and how to volunteer here!

Horticulture Beans

Beans, beans, the magical fruit! We all know the phrase, but do you know how many varieties of beans are in existence? Currently, the world genebanks hold about 40,000 bean varieties, although only a handful are mass-produced for regular consumption. We want to highlight a locally significant legume called a “horticulture bean.” Southern farmers compare them to red kidney beans, but are sweeter in taste and softer in texture. Horticulture bean plants produce long, flat pods with large plump seeds which range in color from white to cream with cranberry red speckles, also giving them the name “cranberry beans”. They have a mild, nutty flavor and a beautiful color. The attractive bean pods and plump seeds are one reason horticulture beans are popular with gardeners and home cooks, especially in France. Ooh la la!

Second Harvest Food Bank

Did you know 1 in 5 households in Louisiana is at risk of hunger?! Across the state and our region, the rising cost of food, housing, and utilities, coupled with high unemployment have increased the need for emergency food assistance. Many families are asking for help for the first time. Second Harvest Food Bank leads the fight against hunger right here in South Louisiana by providing food access, advocacy, education, and disaster response. Second Harvest staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to provide food and support to Louisiana families during the COVID pandemic by offering a multitude of food distribution opportunities at sites around the Greater New Orleans. Their work helps to ensure that meals make it to the dinner tables of thousands of families struggling with hunger in South Louisiana. Need extra help getting food on your table? Call 211, available 24 hours a day, to find out about the next food distribution events happening near you!

CCFM Box @ Top Box Foods

If the $40 CCFM box was too much good stuff for your household size, we’ve introduced a new smaller box. More appropriate for a week’s worth of produce for a 2-3 person household, there’s now a $25 box available. The small box contains ~8 mostly produce items from local growers. The large box contains all of those items, plus 3-4 more. Order Tuesday through Friday from our partners Top Box Foods Louisiana for delivery (see map for range details) or pick up at Liberty’s Kitchen. For the pick-up option, you can select “Liberty’s Kitchen” as the delivery date and pick it up from 3 pm – 6 pm on Tuesday the following week. As always, both size boxes qualify for purchase through our Market Match program for SNAP benefit users, doubling your buying power and cutting the price in half! Choose “pay at pickup” and Top Box will contact you directly to process your SNAP payment and apply your dollar for dollar match.

Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for updates. When you get your box, tag us in a pic of all the great dishes you make with it – we love new recipes!

Vendor of the Week:

Mycelium Express

Surely by now you know these “fun-guys”! Louisiana natives Rickey and Mike are ‘shroom wizards cultivating a growing selection of oyster, chestnut, lion’s mane, and king trumpets. Occasionally, you can find these tasty morsels in our CCFM/Top Box Home Delivery Box or you can catch them this week at the Bucktown Drive Thru on Wednesday.

Recipe of the Week:

Fried Green Tomatoes with Crab Remoulade

What’s the best way to eat green tomatoes? Fried and covered in remoulade, of course! This dish is a summery Southern classic, and is pretty easy to make at home. Crispy, juicy, tangy, saucy. What’s not to love?

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!