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http://www.cstone.net/~landovel/israel.htm I'm all for Freedom of Speech so I pity his ignorance.

I'm all for professionalism and when a family-run business foolishly ties profits to its own concept of prophecy...

What concerns me is what I hope and presume is the ignorance [as in "lack of knowledge"} of the folk who run the markets where this business sells its wares, especially if the markets are govt-operated.

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I was really confused yesterday at this market, seeing that Trickling Springs was there instead of J-Wen. Does anyone know if this is a permanent change?

Am glad to see Quail Creek there and also picked up some nice rockfish fillets from the seafood lady (can't remember the name, though).

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I was really confused yesterday at this market, seeing that Trickling Springs was there instead of J-Wen. Does anyone know if this is a permanent change?

Am glad to see Quail Creek there and also picked up some nice rockfish fillets from the seafood lady (can't remember the name, though).

That is actually J-wen, Trickling Springs bottles for him. I don't think he's had his labels this year. It is def his milk though. Also, with his push to returnable glass bottles maybe he's given up on the labels all together.

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That is actually J-wen, Trickling Springs bottles for him. I don't think he's had his labels this year. It is def his milk though. Also, with his push to returnable glass bottles maybe he's given up on the labels all together.

Thanks chaofun for the clarification! I thought that the person looked familiar, but it's been an entire year since I've seen him (since I don't hit the markets that he's at so often last year).

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Westmoreland had asparagus galore and a sign that said strawberries in 2 weeks. Let the countdown begin!

Say hi next time laniloa! Long time no see!! Can't wait for the strawberries. This is too late for pool boy, but there were chickens sold here today...

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I was here today, too. Haven't been in eons. Got two packages of beef cheeks from Eco-Friendly, along with a great big handful of ramps. All their best stuff gets sold here, and I fear that Dupont gets the leftovers too often. Also got pugliese bread and brioche loaf.

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I didn't buy asparagus. but it was loose-choose your own@$4.99 a lb.

the ramps were $5 for a huge handful (at Eco-Friendly) easily 4-5 times more than the bunches being sold at Dupont.

Damn, of all times to be laid up at home and not be able to get to the market. Glad someone is selling ramps for a decent price. Wonder how much longer they will have them...

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Damn, of all times to be laid up at home and not be able to get to the market. Glad someone is selling ramps for a decent price. Wonder how much longer they will have them...

I was at Dupont on Sunday morning, and EcoFriendly had a cardboard box packed full of ramps--with roots and soil still attached. It does take a little time to clean and prep them, which most of the more expensive vendors have already taken care of. But I'd rather pay less and do the work myself, if I can't get out and forage for them on my own.
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The line at Westmoreland Berry Farm wrapped around the truck. So far, these are the sweetest, plumpest and juiciest strawberries of the season. Along with strawberries, I picked up cherries, EF sirloin and a poussin, and Blue Ridge Dairy smoked mozzarella.

Mr. MV and I enjoyed a sample of soup from Willow- gigante beans, smoked pork shoulder, pancetta. Incredibly good.

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Got to the farmer's market today at about 8:45 to find Atwater's Bakery quickly packing up their things. I walked over to Quail Creek Farms, and they were doing the same. Turns out, at 8:01 this morning, the Arlington Public Health Division "busted" them both because their bread, muffins, scones, etc are not individually wrapped. Both seemed pretty upset. The woman from Atwater's said they planned to be back next week with

pre-wrapped items, but who knows.

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I sent this email to the Arlington County Board yesterday. I probably got the bakery name wrong, but the Courthouse Farmers Market website's list of vendors is incomplete and out of date:

On Saturday, June 5th, I went to the Farmers Market at Courthouse to make my weekly purchases. I found, to my great surprise, that several of the Vendors I normally buy from were either gone from their usual locations, or were on site, but with empty shelves. I found out that for each of them, when the County Health Inspector examined their displays that morning, were told they were in violation of the health regulations of Arlington County and were not permitted to sell in the market. The violations were committed by the vendors selling bread, pastries and cookies - Two Quail and the stall I call 'the bread people', along with the table manned by the folks from Willow Restaurant.

In each instance, they were told that because the products they were selling were not pre-wrapped (or in the case of Willow's free samples, not prepackaged), they violated the health code and had to be taken away. This decision was made in spite of the fact that for the last five years (two years for Two Quail) these vendors have been selling their products in precisely the same way under the oversight of a County Health Inspector who examined their stall each week before the market opened. There was no explanation for the sudden change in the rules, only an adamant insistence that they must take their products off the displays and not sell them on site.

As an ordinary citizen I have been able to come up with only three possible explanations for why this happened -

1. There has been a formal change in the Health regulations in Arlington County or the Commonwealth of Virginia, effective June 1.

2. The County Health Inspectors assigned to insure the safety of County residents in regards to the proper display and sale of foodstuffs at the Courthouse Farmers Market for the last 5 to 10 years have been consistently (and perhaps criminally) negligent in allowing those sales to be conducted in violation of the law.

3. (And this is the one I think is most likely) A County Health inspector woke up this morning, shaved, showered and dressed. He went to work and then played little tin god with a group of well meaning small businessmen and women who were at his mercy.

The irony in this situation was highlighted by the fact that, in the space directly opposite the vacated Two Quail site, a vendor was selling fresh fish, crabs and raw Oysters off of a bed of ice, with no packaging of the individual items. I guess potentially contaminated raw fish is less of a health hazard than a bran muffin.

I am not angry because I couldn't buy my usual items - the bakers told me they were selling the same products in the same fashion at the Falls Church Farmers Market if I wanted to get them. What angers me is that a County employee took an apparently arbitrary action against a group of small, independent businesses and as a result, those businesses lost money - it's not like they can just wait until next week to sell the stuff, they will probably either significantly discount it (if they can sell it) or give it to a charity.

I thought that one of the goals of the board was to promote small independent businesses in the county, and to use the farmers markets as a way to encourage the consumption of locally grown, locally produced foods. For the life of me I cannot see how this action by a County employee did anything to further that goal.

All he did is take some money away from people he had some power over and make the Farmers Market a little less than it was.

I know I'll get an automated response from the website that this message was received. Could I get a personal response from someone on the board too?

The only vendor affected I could pass it to was Willow. Their take on the situation was the following:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and very well written message to the County Board.

We appreciate you fighting for us, as well as the residents of Arlington.

This is a remarkably frustrating situation for us as we actually spend several hundred dollars each week (not to mention getting out of bed at what amounts to roughly 6 hours rest after our always busy Fridays) to give food away. Sure it is great promotion for Willow, but so is advertising in the Washingtonian. We choose to spend our promotion budget on local events that also support the Arlington community. Community relations are something that is very important to us. To be "slapped on the wrist" by the very county we are trying to support is inconceivable to us.

Of course this is the same County that relentlessly tickets our patrons and purveyors while sending the "sign police" after us because our patio umbrellas are not in compliance.

In the end the only ones who suffer are the residents of Arlington, a sad thing indeed.

Regards,

Brian

Brian Wolken

Director of Operations

Willow

P.S. Please feel free to forward this to whomever you fell may have interest.

I pass this on because it makes me mad to see good, honest, hard working people get jerked around by someone for no apparent reason.

TSchaad

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First, my heart sank for the bread vendors when I read this initially-what a loss and WASTE! Shameful to show up first thing when all that food now has nowhere to go? Could there be no other way to communicate this before leaving these producers at a loss? We're so lucky to have the access to their products, as a marketgoer this infuriates me.

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I do not believe that there is a bakery in the region that individually wraps their breads in their storefronts. I don't know why there is a different rule for farmers markets. I suspect there isn't.

I gave it a quick look and it appears that the Arlington County Food Code adopts the FDA Food Code. The only seemingly relevant section is:

3-306.11 Food Display.

Except for nuts in the shell and whole, raw fruits and vegetables that are intended for hulling, peeling, or washing by the consumer before consumption, food on display shall be protected from contamination by the use of packaging; counter, service line, or salad bar food guards; display cases; or other effective means.

I guess it can depend on your notion of what are "effective means." Ambiguous phrases like this guarantee lawyers full employment.

As a point of reference, the Ballston Partnership Farmers Market requires that baked goods be packaged:

Baked Goods: Should be mixed, baked, finished and packaged. Baked goods must be

handled in accordance with the rules and regulations described in the Bakers Certificate

form. Current kitchen inspection reports through the Virginia or other states' health

department are required.

Edited by dcs
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My brain felt a bit lost today as I kept seeing squashes, tomatoes, zucchini and other stuff that I didn't think were in season yet at the market. Is hydroponic or greenhouse the way to go now? Thanks for letting me vent.

Yes, greenhouse tomatoes are ever-present, and I have conflicting feelings regarding whether or not they should be at the farmers market. But then again, I see hydroponic lettuce and herbs year round too.

I spoke with a young man from Quail Creek about the "raid" last week. He said that the inspectors sat in the parking lot watching them set up all of their goods, and as soon as the market opened, they were told to pack it up and go.

All of the food went to waste, as I suspected.

Here's QC's solution to the problem:]

Sample breads were displayed, while the rest of the stock was covered.

Interestingly, Atwater's stall looked unchanged. Perhaps their plastic guard meets standards?

Westmoreland Berry Farm once again was packed! The line wrapped around their truck and then some.

Haul:

Quail Creek pain au chocolat

WBF Pie cherries

WBF Stawberries

Eco-Friendly whole chicken and a flat iron steak

Blue Ridge fresh mozzarella bocconcini

Red Rake Farm Thai basil and mint

Cibola cured pork fat and a Teryaki jerky stick

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Yes, greenhouse tomatoes are ever-present, and I have conflicting feelings regarding whether or not they should be at the farmers market. But then again, I see hydroponic lettuce and herbs year round too.

I think one must distinguish between high tunnel, greenhouse and hydroponic etc methods of growing.

I don't see the harm/hypocrisy in growing plants under a passive high tunnel. While the high tunnel product won't taste as good as the in season product, it is better tasting than the completely out of seasonf actory produced veggies that the supermarkets offer. The plastic protects from rain and allows for heat collection. It is just another step along the lines of cold frames and row overs that allows for the farmer to make use of our short growing season more efficiently. I just which that folk would lable high tunnel grown as that: high tunnel grown. Signs saying in ground grown tomatoes are inferring that the tomato is a summer tomato when in fact it is a pre season pinch hitter.

Heated greenhouses and hydroponic growing are more involved. There are issues of quality {I have yet to have hydro tomatoes that taste as good as in ground tomatoes} and energy use. For a quick growing, replenishable crop like lettuce or greens, a greenhouse probably delivers good energy use vs output ratios. But for longer growing products like row crops, I would be less inclined to believe it is efficient growing. And, again, the falvor profiles are the biggest concerns.

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My brain felt a bit lost today as I kept seeing squashes, tomatoes, zucchini and other stuff that I didn't think were in season yet at the market. Is hydroponic or greenhouse the way to go now? Thanks for letting me vent.

stop venting about the summer squash. they're field grown and been around for some time now, in season. yesterday, there weren't any squash blossoms for sale for the first time in two weeks. why? too blasting hot!!!!

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As soon as we arrived at the market on Sat. morning, about 10 minutes before opening, Mr. MV said that he was heading over to Westmoreland Berry Farm's truck to get in line.

"There's not a line before they even open", I said, naively.

After chatting with goldenticket (btw..how was your first day?) at EcoFriendly's stand, and perusing the proteins, I headed over to said truck to find Mr. MV about 20th in a line that stretched all the way to Uhle St.

I totally deserved the I told you so look on his face.

The line moved quickly, however, and we got the 3/$16 deal with 2 pints of blackberries, and 1 pint of blueberries. No strawberries, I suppose they're done at WBF.

I guess you can say that we've officially joined the cult of Westmoreland, and worship at the berry alter now

And:

Red Rake Farm (Hanover, VA) Thai basil and Kentucky Colonel mint.

EcoFriendly ribeye and goat leg.

Newsflash- did anyone know that Smith Meadows has a food cart? Apparently on Sat.'s, the cart is at the antique/flea market adjacent to the farmers market, but now will be in the Courthouse parking lot next to the Smith Meadows stand. Mr. MV and I split a half smoke ($6) that was delicious! It was nestled in a very good bun, and topped with grill onions and grainy mustard, while underneath the half smoke was a green relish of pickles? herbs? Not sure, but it worked.

And I must add- big points for using local, grass-fed, organic meats.

Without any good excuse that I can come up with right now, I was a half smoke-virgin. Perhaps it's the venerable Philly cheesesteak-snob in me thinking that this native sandwich wasn't worthy in comparison, not giving it the due and respect it deserves.

OK, Ben's, let's see what you've got.

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Awesome! Love their yogurts sold at Dupont. Thought they sold 2% though. Maybe later?

A couple of weeks ago Claire Seibert told me that they were hoping to get permission (from whoever licenses them in the State of Maryland) to bottle and sell a hand-skimmed low-fat milk. They cannot really afford and aren't interested in acquiring a mechanical cream separator, and so they would not be able to strictly calibrate 2% or fat-free. But this would enable them to also sell cream, which would be fabulous. Today at Dupont, they had no eggs to sell, having sold them all in Arlington yesterday. Same story with Toigo's corn. I need to go to Arlington more often...

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This Saturday (12/18) is the last market of the year at Arlington Courthouse. The market will be closed on Christmas and will open again on January 1, with winter hours in effect: 9 am - 12 noon through April 9.

News about a new vendor from the market website

We are excited to announce the arrival of a long-awaited milk vendor into our “winter” market – South Mountain Creamery (from Middletown, Maryland). We are expecting South Mountain Creamery to join the market on January 1, 2011. Their product list includes: hormone-free beef, chicken, pork, milk, half-n-half cream, yogurt, yogurt drinks, butter, cream cheese, eggs, and ice cream.
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I love Quail Creek. I first disovered them at the Kingstowne market, but unfortunately, it just wasn't worth it for them so they left about 2 years? ago.. I was elated to find them at Courthouse, but I believe the are not there in the winter. Atwater is there year-round, however.

Good news then: Quail Creek was there this past Saturday, so I will assume they are now there year round (as is Atwater, per above).

South Mountain Creamery was trying to lobby buyers to recommend them for year-round status. I am not sure how I feel about that, since, even though I like their products, I really like Claire and Clear Springs. Little man really enjoyed this past Saturday's purchase of the SMC's Raspberry Skim Yogurt drink.

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I really like both Clear Spring and South Mountain, I think there should be room for both. I like that South Mountain offers more than whole milk.

Quail Creek is there year round, there hasn't been a market where I have not seen them there, and I go pretty much every Saturday.

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I really like both Clear Spring and South Mountain, I think there should be room for both. I like that South Mountain offers more than whole milk.

Quail Creek is there year round, there hasn't been a market where I have not seen them there, and I go pretty much every Saturday.

Hmm....I must have missed them the Sat. before last, when we picked up Atwater Sourdough, South Mountain Creamery 2% milk (tastes and feels like whole milk) and apple and yams from Truck Patch.

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Hmm....I must have missed them the Sat. before last, when we picked up Atwater Sourdough <snip>.

That's strange, as they were pretty much diagonal from Atwater this past Saturday. The whole market layout shifts for Winter and it totally confused me yesterday...did not expect Eco-Friendly to be positioned so far away from Smith Meadows two days ago....

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They weren't there the weekend before. That was the day it was really cold and drizzly. The market was a little smaller than usual. Quail Creek was handing out Valentine's presents this weekend. I asked what was in one loaf of bread and he handed it to me and said happy Valentine's Day. Then he handed a bunch of other people stuff as well. My gift of cranberry walnut bread was fabulous for turkey sandwiches.

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