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---------------------------------------------------------------- Vendor Spotlight Susan and Wally Parks Business: Broadhead Mountain Farm Known for: the sweetest tomatoes on the planet and a contagious smile Years at the market: 3 Why sell at the farmers market: "We love our customers." "They are an extension of our family."
 NEW HOURSBeginning November 3, market hours are 8am - 1pm
Shop Charlottesville City Market through Saturday, December 22, 2012
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Don't miss a thing!:
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 | | Food Day |
Why Food Day? Because we ALL deserve real, good food!
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The POP program (Power of Produce) has wrapped up for the season, and we'll have a summary and pictures posted soon. Over 40 kids visited the program over the past four weeks, taking part in a gardening demonstration, whipping up smoothies with the bike blender, and sampling produce to become a member of the Two Bite Club. Every week, kids received their very own market money to spend on fresh produce at the market, too! Our thanks to the Jefferson Public Citizens students who made this program happen at the market.
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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: Broadhead Mountain Farm  If you walk by their stand on First Street, you won't be able to ignore the big, white-toothed smiles of Broadhead Mountain Farm owners Susan and Wally Parks. They draw you in. You are hooked. Their produce has the same effect. "We are really into clean growing and eating, with no use of pesticides or chemicals," says Susan. "Our customers appreciate that." Self-described "fanatics of fresh produce," Susan and Wally will tell you that they are by no means "professional" growers, but notes "We are still authentic, though." Their painstakingly detailed care for the soil has produced what customers often refer to as "the best tomatoes in the world:" sweet, subtle and incredibly flavorful. The credit goes to Wally, says Susan. "It's his sweat and it's the soil," she says laughing. (click here for the rest of the story)
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Market Central awarded U.S.D.A. grant!
What a stellar year this has been for Market Central! Canning classes filled to the brim, cooking demonstrations, a rocking Farm Tour with a record number of participating farms. Behind the scenes, however, another major project was brewing.
Early this spring, Market Central applied for a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant (FMPP), a federal program designed "to help improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities."
After many sleepless nights and detailed budgets, we did it! Market Central was awarded $76,020 in FMPP funds, to be administered over two years. With these funds, Market Central will enhance and expand programs like the farm tour and the canning program, and will hire it's first part-time Executive Director.
It gets better, believe it or not. Market Central's subgrantee, the Vinegar Hill Canning Cooperative, will receive a sizable portion of the grant money to enhance and promote canning classes for low-income communities and will ultimately provide part-time positions, skills and job training to low-income individuals.
We've always had great ideas
for the market - just wait till you see what lies ahead!
For a list of all the FMPP grant recipients, click here.
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October 24, 2012 is Food Day: a nationwide celebration, building awareness and a movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Individuals and organizations across the country are sponsoring events all week that aim to strengthen and unify the food movement in order to improve our nation's food policies.
What is Charlottesville (aka: the "locavore capital of the world") doing for Food Day? Well, there are just so many great events already on the calendar, we thought it would be a great idea to put them all under one umbrella, the Foodie Fortnight - and make sure you know about all of them! Foodie Fortnight runs from October 19 through November 3, and for two solid weeks, Cville foodies can participate in festivals, film screenings, good food pledges - and much, much more. We've listed them all, and provided easy links to all of the important information, on our website -- check it out!
"Foodie Fortnight" kicks off Friday, October 19 at the Buford Harvest Festival, 5-8 pm at Buford School. In its 3rd year, the festival is a celebration of the City Schoolyard Garden at Buford, and of seasonal food. It's free, and everyone is invited to be part of the celebration!
We invite you to take part in any or all of these events, or visit FoodDay.org for other event listings around the country. Maybe your celebration of the day will mean that you and your family sit down to a REAL FOOD dinner for a change. Maybe you'll focus on breaking one bad food habit - or better yet, including one more good food habit in your regular routine. The Food Day site is full of ideas and resources - go ahead and register your REAL FOOD dinner on the site as an "official" Food Day event.
Do you "EAT REAL"?
Take the quiz here and find out!
Read the Food Day newspaper, or download the Food Day dinner party kit here - including some amazing EAT REAL recipes!
* Healthy * Affordable * Sustainable * Fair *
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