Duke Farmers Market opens April 23
April 12, 2010
Catherine and Michelle Foss enjoy farm-fresh strawberries as often as they can when the fruit is in season. Lucky for them, they don’t have to travel far to satisfy their craving.
Catherine and Michelle, mother and daughter who both work in the Health System, are regulars at the Duke Farmers Market, which opens its 10th season April 23 at the green space between the Bryan Research and Seeley G. Mudd buildings. The market runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday through July 30.
“We try to eat nutritious, fresh fruits and vegetables as opposed to frozen or canned ones because fresh things are better,” said Catherine Foss, a clinical research coordinator in Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. “The food we get at the farmers market is healthier.”
Added her daughter, Michelle, a nurse in the Emergency Department, “I work 12 hour shifts, and I could go to the grocery store on my way home, but by the time I’m there, the fruit has been out all day.”
Strawberries aren’t the only popular item at the farmers market, which features more than 10 vendors selling produce and goods such as sweet potatoes, grass-fed beef and flowers. This year’s market will also have guest cooking demonstrations, music and more.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the market will have a theme of “10.” The first two weeks of the market will feature a booth with information about 10 popular locally grown products and 10 ways to become more sustainable. Other themes through September include highlighting local restaurants, creative recipes and ways to support the Durham community through donations and volunteering.
While the Duke Farmers Market celebrates 10 years, its growth has been part of a larger trend.
The search for more local and nutritious foods has become popular across the country. The number of farmers markets in the United States has grown steadily with a total of 5,274 reported in 2009, compared to 1,755 in 1994, the first year the United States Department Agriculture began tracking them.
“I think it’s clear that the importance of eating locally-grown fruits and vegetables is a priority for employees at Duke and people throughout America,” said Diana Monroe, a health education specialist for LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program and organizer of the farmers market. “We’re glad to be able to give people what they want in a convenient location during the workday.”
In addition to local products, shopping at the market is more sustainable than finding goods at a chain store, Monroe said. None of the foods are processed or contain ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, and they’re transported a short distance, which means less carbon emissions are involved in getting the products from farm to fork.
Farmers like Richard Holcomb, who operates Coon Rock Farm in Hillsborough, take pride in the fact that they’re able to provide local goods. Holcomb travels about 15 miles to Duke, where he sells chemical-free produce like heirloom tomatoes.
“Most grocery stores sell produce that have been sprayed with a large number of chemicals and have an emphasis on how big something is and how it looks, not how it tastes,” he said. “Locally grown food is going to be healthier, safer and taste better. There really aren’t any negatives to shopping locally.”
By Bryan Roth
Writer, Office of Communication Services