Let’s make a better Dallas Farmers Market

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — Fueled by their desire to improve Dallas' Farmers Market, more than 200 local food professionals attended a meeting and reception on Sunday night to kick off a series of discussions about where and how we get our food.

Farmers, ranchers, vendors, and restaurateurs saw a presentation by keynote speaker Ann Harvey Yonkers, who runs FRESHFARM Markets, a farmers market program in Washington, D.C. that's dedicated to "sustainable" agriculture.

The discussion was the first in an initiative designed to bring buyers together with regional producers -- farmers, ranchers, and other small food manufacturers -- in an effort to make it easier for consumers to get access to their locally grown products.

Parties involved in the planning include Dallas Farmers Market Friends, Slow Foods International, Texas Organic Growers and Farmers Association, the Texas Dept. of Agriculture, and Les Dames d'Escoffier.

Sustainable agriculture is a movement that's rising to counteract the damaging effects of large-scale factory farming and touches on a wide range of issues, including topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities.

Jackie King, who recently began raising beef in Purdon, Texas, near Corsicana, attended because she wanted to become part of a network of buyers and sellers.

"And I'd like to be sharing information about issues such as going organic," she said.

Yonkers' presentation traced her organization's journey from a single stand to six markets in the D.C. area, including one that sets up camp in Washington's central business district, selling only products from the Chesapeake Bay. She stressed the importance of building relationships with groups in the local community -- from artists to kids' groups to home cooks -- and emphasized the powerful allure of first-hand contact with farmers, as she showed slides of flawless radishes and gorgeous peaches, and the radiant farmers who grow them.

"The authenticity that you experience is what transforms the market," she said. "It's that connection with the farmer."

In its first year, her organization attracted 15 farmers, who saw $265,000 in sales. Ten years later, the combined six markets welcomed 160,000 visitors who spent $3.2 million on everything from exotic produce to cheese to artisan bread.

"It encourages people to think about food in a different way, but you have to be patient," she cautioned. "It doesn't happen overnight."

The roundtable continues on Monday with a closed-session discussion for regional farmers and North Texas food industry leaders.