  Blondy Member Username: Blondy Post Number: 950 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.212.173.138 |
I remember reading a few months ago that there is a group of people that want to privatize Eastern Market. And I remember that someone on city council was all upset about it because of the jobs lost?!?!?!? What does the future hold for Eastern Market? There is the Eastern Market Merchants Assoc. There are some other groups there too, yes? | ||
Sharmaal Member Username: Sharmaal Post Number: 723 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 136.2.1.103 |
All I know is that the groups at eastern market (The Friends of Eastern Market) seem clueless to me. I've contacted them a couple times for some possible projects with them, and they seemed very static. I don't think they realize that other Farmer's Market's are opening up that will wrest away their audience. Evolve or Die. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 858 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 198.208.159.18 |
how does it need to "evolve"? where are these other markets? I don't think any other local markets can offer the variety that EM can | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 370 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
Need more emphasis on farmers - not produce re-sellers. Trend is toward people wanting/buying food produced closer to home - knowing what is in it and on it. More organic stuff. Change MI legislation to allow farmers to sell freshly butchered meats there. Add cheeses, etc. The Eastern Market is lost in the 1970's. Look at green markets springing up all over the country for a new model. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 859 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 198.208.159.18 |
there is a meat truck (mobile butcher shop) there in the colder months presumably because of refridgerator/freezer-like ambient temps. there is at least one organic stand there every week as well (the one with the popcorn), though more would obviously be better. I am annoyed by the number of produce re-sellers there as well. (Message edited by gravitymachine on February 16, 2006) | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 371 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
Hire Nina Plank as a consultant! She is the guru of Farmers Markets. Then get out of her way. So You Want the Inside Story on Farmers' Markets NOTE: This essay ran on the op-ed pages of The New York Times on April 24, 2004 HOW NEW YORK CITY'S GREENMARKET WENT STALE By Nina Planck In 1979, when I was 8, my parents sent me to sell vegetables at roadside stands near our 60-acre farm in Loudoun County, Va. I sold corn and tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkins. The coins went in a Danish cookie tin and the bills in an apron my mother made. We struggled to earn a living, and that winter my parents took odd jobs. The next summer the first farmers market in the area opened, in the parking lot of the county courthouse. Swarms of people pounced on our beets and Swiss chard. Since then my parents have earned a living from “producer only” farmers markets, where all the food is local and you are allowed to sell only what you have grown. Running our stand, I learned that, in the face of global industrial agriculture, there is enormous demand for fresh, healthful food produced by small local farms. Others seem to agree. According to the Department of Agriculture, the number of farmers markets in the United States rose 79 percent from 1994 to 2002, to 3,100. Demand for local foods is global. Working in Britain in the 1990’s, I was homesick for local foods and started London’s first producer-only farmers markets. Today, British farmers at the 10 year-round markets sell fresh milk, cream and butter; handmade cheese; wild fish, fowl and game; grass-fed meat, poultry and eggs; farm-pressed wine and juice; heirloom apples and carrots; and homemade preserves — all of it local. Last year, farmers sold $6.8 million in local foods. Once the markets were up and running, I felt homesick once again — this time for American local foods. So I returned to Washington, where I started a nonprofit farmers market, the first on public parkland in the capital. Farmers markets — and all they represent — are dear to my heart. It was exciting, then, when the fabled Greenmarket — the largest network of farmers markets in the country — hired me last July as director of its 42 markets on 30 sites in New York City. (Greenmarket is run by the Council on the Environment, a private, nonprofit organization housed in the mayor’s office.) Unfortunately, not six months into the job, I was fired. And although this story is about food, it’s not about sour grapes. It’s about the growing demand for local apples, butter, beef and other fine foods — a demand that is not being met by Greenmarket. For many years, Greenmarket, which opened on East 59th Street in 1976, set the standard for American farmers markets. And in many ways, it is still one of the best. But in the last 10 years, Greenmarket had lost its way. Compared to farmers markets in Cleveland, Madison, Wis., New Orleans, San Francisco and elsewhere, Greenmarket was shopworn. Farmers smoked, food sat on the ground, items were not clearly priced and sales staff were often ignorant about the food they were selling. Some rules seemed perverse: Greenmarket prohibits farmers from describing farming methods on price signs (like “hormone free”), ostensibly to protect consumers from mendacious claims. Greenmarket was failing in its mission “to support local farms and preserve farmland” in other ways. It was surprising to find that Greenmarket allowed supermarket blueberries in pies and Washington State black raspberries in jam. The cabbage in sauerkraut hailed from Canada, and there was no telling where cider came from because most farmers were not required to get their own fruit back from the press. Many baked goods sold at Greenmarket were produced by large commercial operations using frozen mixes and hydrogenated vegetable oils. Market management was far from meritocratic. Favored farmers got the best spaces. Some farmers broke the rules with impunity — while others who did the same thing were fined, subjected to repeated farm inspections, or banished to less desirable markets. When I arrived at Greenmarket, I hoped to address these problems. With the help of the young, hard-working staff, we began to clean up the markets, make the assignments fair and enforce the producer-only rule. I proposed that we provide electricity to help farmers sell meat, fish, and dairy products in chilled display cases instead of on melting ice on hot summer days — a common service to farmers and customers at the London markets. To encourage business, I suggested that we publicize the chefs who bought Greenmarket foods and farmers who sold to them, and give farmers a pamphlet with marketing tips. We also tried to recruit new farmers and find new foods like grass-fed dairy, meat and eggs. With some markets offering only apples and sugary baked goods in the winter, adding new local foods was essential. In London, we recruited 130 producers in less than five years. After 28 years, Greenmarket had only 170 producers. Instead of finding new farmers, Greenmarket simply gave spaces at new markets to the same farmers. Farmers in the Hudson Valley and around the region told me they had given up trying to get into Greenmarket. They thought it was all sewn up. Sadly, old habits die hard. These and other reforms were rejected. Bakers and jam makers fought my proposal to require local fruits in pies and jam. Hudson Valley apple farmers, oddly, were not in favor of requiring bakers to use local apples. And powerful farmers continued to elbow out the competition. Last Thanksgiving, for example, I discovered that the turkey farmer who had sold at Union Square on Wednesdays for years was disinvited by the person who makes market assignments on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving — the biggest food shopping day of the year, when an estimated 65,000 people walked through the market. The usual Saturday turkey farmer, a man with more clout, dropped in to grab the Thanksgiving trade. In December I was fired. I never understood why. My boss even said the Council on the Environment shared my vision for a vibrant Greenmarket. Perhaps I was guilty of too much enthusiasm. If so, Greenmarket needed it. I am lucky to live near three Greenmarkets, and I still buy my local foods there. But I also still believe that if Greenmarket is to survive, it must change. Back in 1976, Greenmarket was the only game in town. Chefs and food lovers flocked to buy novelties like mesclun, wild mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes and organic eggs. New Yorkers have more choices now, and Greenmarket farmers complain of new competition and shrinking sales. (Unlike many farmers markets, Greenmarket does not track farm income.) With the appearance — if not the reality — of small-farm values, national chains like Whole Foods are poised to dominate the market. The next Whole Foods in New York is scheduled to open on Union Square — just next door to the flagship Greenmarket. What is to be done? Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner and Greenmarket’s biggest landlord, should demand more of Greenmarket for its use of public space. When the department renegotiated Greenmarket’s license last year, the city did not call for other bids, because, as a parks official told me during the negotiations, when I was still Greenmarket director, “Greenmarket is different.” But city rules say that sole-source procurement — when the city hands a contract to a single bidder — can be used only when there is no other option. And there are plenty of other farmers market organizers in the city. (Note to readers: I’m not one of them.) Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg should add his voice, too, calling for proposals from authentic, producer-only farmers markets to bring local foods — not Canadian cabbage — to public spaces all over New York. Let Greenmarket stay where it is — and let other markets bloom on city property, too. In London and Washington, where I still manage markets, we face competition every day. Other market managers vie with us for farmers and neighborhood sites. Because farmers and consumers have a choice, we work hard to serve them. For too long, Greenmarket has been a monopoly. Unfortunately, it behaves like one. Right now, local farms are bursting with asparagus, watercress and rhubarb. The best cream and butter come from cows grazed on spring’s emerald grass. Farmers want to sell these foods, and New Yorkers want to buy them. A New York institution, once great, is failing them. Perhaps it is time Greenmarket itself had some competition. | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 186 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 69.242.215.65 |
I would like to see fresher, higher quality cut flowers sold at the market. Also, I would like to see the sellers of indoor flowering plants offer the plants earlier in their blooming cycle. Too often the plants seem to me to be leftovers from somewhere else. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 5532 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 68.41.96.145 |
From what I've heard from at least two people with ideas for the market...they got shut down hard by the establishment and back-biting politics that keep those folks busy. We'd do much better to make a parallel set of booths in another warehouse nearby...and call it the near-eastern market market...and let those local farmers have their due. Locally sourced, non corporate grown and processed...it's the only way to eat. Hell, you get ONE body, far as I can tell, why would you want to dump chemicals and almost-foods into it all your life...and then expect it to treat YOU well into your older years?! Now, where are those locally grown oranges and coffee?! (what did we do for vitamin C in MI before Eisenhower built his interstates to move the troops around?!) | ||
Blondy Member Username: Blondy Post Number: 951 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.212.173.138 |
OK, so there is the "Friends of Eastern Market", the "Eastern Market M erchants Assoc." and the "Eastern Market Advancement Coalition". DO these three groups work together well? ANyone? | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 72 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
The interstate was primarily designed to move ICBMs from their sites of manufacture to their silos. That's why the bridges had a particular minimum height. I forget just what it was - probably 12 feet 6 inches. | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 372 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
I think that the merchants association does want to make the market more of a destination - but imo they are looking at the wrong strategies. They are the group that wants prize-fighting and antique shows (I believe). Because they are not farmers, they don't recognize the need to stay true to the core work and also the value of deepening the core work to search out more farmers and producers to come to the market. That's what will draw enthusiastic customers and chefs - not bands and prize-fighting. Who is out there looking for the best farmers and luring them to Eastern market? | ||
Jsmyers Member Username: Jsmyers Post Number: 1416 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 209.131.7.68 |
I'm familiar with EMMA, and one of the other two (but I can't remember which). They do work together, but they don't have the same visions for the market. One group is represented mostly by the merchants around the actual market. The other is more concerned with what actually happens in the sheds. Remember that the City's Parks department owns and operates the market. There are proposals to transfer control and operations (but not ownership) to a private, non-profit group. It is my understanding that there have been holdups in City Council since a couple city jobs will be eliminated. Please realize that it is hard to get fresh local produce in Februrary. I find the selection great when I go there. Of course there is a lot of room for improvement though. I'll have to take time to read that column Southwestmap posted. | ||
Pam Member Username: Pam Post Number: 78 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 67.107.47.65 |
How does this tie-in to Eastern Market? Will these fights involve livestock or people?  | ||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 2064 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 130.132.177.245 |
ya usedta hafta go to wayne or romulus for cockfighting ... | ||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 2065 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 130.132.177.245 |
ummm guys, isn't eastern market is still the real thing: a wholesale produce etc. market surrounded by wholesale food distributors? The fact that they also offer retail sales is nice and all that but these firms already have a primary business in their commercial sales. These other farmers markets you decribe in other cities are nice but they generally don't have the commercial sales aspect to them that eastern market has. Further, if you don't like all of those produce resellers selling the same stuff, well what do you think you will get there by emphasizing retail sales even more? Have you been to some of these other markets in other cities? At least in the case of CLE and PHI for every oragnic homebrew stand there are multiple general green grocers with virtually identical stuff and identical prices. The little weekend stands setup on blocked off streets are nice and all but there is no reason it should be in Eastern market, the point of those is to make it convenient to where customers live with the disposable income and the desire to buy that sorta stuff. Put 'em in in the grandland parking lot, 7mile and livernois, RO, GP, Bham maybe the GCP as the residential fills in ... that sorta thing ... | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 373 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
I am pretty sure that there was prize-fighting in the Market on Sundays last year. The Eastern Market Re-investment Strategy as published last year by Idon'tknowwho: ) Create a flexible-use event space that will integrate market sheds and the adjacent retail store frontage into a Market Square.This will increase themarket's days and hours of use, celebrate its historical character and allow market businesses to capitalize on event audiences. 2) Historically restore the market's Shed 2 to re-establish the market as a premier center for fresh foods in the metropolitan area, attract new seasonalgrowers and increase accessibility to fresh farmproduce. 3) Improve winterization and add refrigeration tothe market's Shed 3 to create a year-round andpredictable destination for a rich assortment offresh and specialty foods. 4) Construct a center for market administration,visitor amenities and food information andinstruction to elevate the market as a pleasantdestination and a source for food education andknowledge. 5) Broaden the market's strength in plants andflowers by adding retail greenhouse space to fosteryear-round sales and constructing a new shed thatencourages seasonal displays of plants and flowers. 6) Encourage economically sustainable productagriculture, foster rural-urban educationalpartnerships and cultivate entrepreneurialopportunity through the creation of a communityagriculture facility on brownfield sites. 7) Invest in the infrastructure of the market toincrease visibility, security and access, resulting inan improved identity, attractiveness and a people-friendly experience.EASTERN MARKET REINVESTMENT STRATEGY Note that an event space is priority # 1 and I believe that Priorities #2 and #3 are paramount to establishing the Market as a premiere food destination. | ||
Huggybear Member Username: Huggybear Post Number: 147 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 192.217.12.254 |
I can't speak for everyone who shops retail at Eastern Market, but I can say that regardless of "authenticity," the sheds are pretty dingy - and by mid-day, absolutely filthy. I can see why someone put off by the Farmer Jack on Lafayette would be put off by Eastern Market's facilities. Gratiot Central Market is better, but it is cut off from the rest of Eastern Market by the freeway. If you want more attractive retail, you need to kick it up to something like the covered markets you see in Europe (and everywhere else): multistorey (2-3), terraced, with an atrium in the middle. Eastern Europe has some lovely ones from the 1900s-1920s. These were not expensive to build (even then, their interiors were pretty simple steel construction, largely from prefab parts - almost the big boxes of their day, but pretty on the outside). That huge, crowded, contentious parking lot in the middle of the market looks like a good place for a new building. After all, isn't it all retail parking right now? | ||
Solarflare Member Username: Solarflare Post Number: 372 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 63.69.106.29 |
Gratiot Central Market is awesome, and there's a walkway right behind it that goes over the freeway directly to the Eastern Market sheds. | ||
Taj920 Member Username: Taj920 Post Number: 88 Registered: 01-2004 Posted From: 68.42.252.205 |
Eastern Market is a great experience and should be embraced and advanced. Unfortunately, the masses prefer the quality and convenience of a Nino Salvaggio's in the burbs. | ||
Detroiternthemist Member Username: Detroiternthemist Post Number: 6 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 68.73.199.215 |
Not me Taj920, Ive been going to the marker for 30 years.....I like it just the way it is. Some things have tradition and should stay just as they are. | ||
Ddaydave Member Username: Ddaydave Post Number: 309 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 67.149.185.244 |
Taj920 I go to places like the eastern market to get away from places like Nino Salvaggio's | ||
Erobtheone Member Username: Erobtheone Post Number: 13 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 12.146.72.169 |
The Eastern Market will always hold a special place in my heart. I believe that it is as much about the experience as it is the merchants. It would be nice to see it evolve into something a little nicer. Erob | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 1788 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 4.229.6.82 |
The smell of fresh Croissants and Cheddar Cheese in the air at Hirt's...... you can't find that at Nino's. (Although I like the petit original Nino's in St. Clair Shores). | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 374 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
To me its not as much a question of aesthetics as it is keeping the Farm/City connection with all that implies. We need to support local farming in Michigan. We need, as a populace, to keep clean local food available. That's what the Market can do - but its falling down on the job. | ||
Detroitduo Member Username: Detroitduo Post Number: 500 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 194.138.39.56 |
This is a great thread... and you are ALL correct! My father had been taking me to Eastern Market since I was 10yo. I grew up there. For a farmer, like my father, Eastern Market was a life-line. Our bread and butter. Fact is, over the last 20 years, that has changed. Eastern Market, now, is a supplemental income for many farmers (not all, ofcourse). In many ways, Eastern Market still allows the opportunities that existed many years ago, but the market is shifting. Here's the problem. For as loooong as I can remember, my father has complained about the Eastern Market board and Farmer's commities. "It's all big-city Politics, son!", he used to tell me. And he's right. You can go down there and talk to any one of those farmers or sellers down there and they will tell you the political wrangling going on around there. For as much pathetic it is, it is disorganized. None of the groups that want to "change" Eastern Market can agree on anything or find common ground. This is the reason why Eastern Market has never evolved into what it "can be". I LOVE Eastern Market. There is NOTHING like going on a Saturday morning and roaming around the shops and the sheds. The sights. The smells (good and bad). It will take a very slick leader to go in there and move the area into the "correct" direction. | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 375 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 64.79.90.206 |
Did you read the NYT op-ed posted above about New York's Green Markets? Is the political wrangling in Detroit like what is described there - lack of initiative to let new farmers/growers in? |
