[Source: Arizona Republic, June 24, 2008] — The nationwide salmonella scare seems to be ebbing. At last, consumers can feel good again about buying tomatoes. Or not quite so nervous, at least. Of course, buying tomatoes — or any produce, for that matter — doesn’t have to be a nerve-racking experience. Phoenix-area families never needed fear salmonella. Not if they buy local.
Among all of America’s great cities, Phoenix is nearly unique in that it does not have a well-established and stable farmers market. A market in downtown Phoenix is struggling to take root — it has a growing base of both producers and customers — but tents erected on fiercely hot blacktop will get a nascent farmers market only so far. “We don’t have much of anything but the sheer will to do this,” said Cindy Gentry, executive director of Community Food Connections, a non-profit organization operating the Downtown Phoenix Public Market at North Central Avenue and McKinley Street on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
By “this,” she means a building. With food-preparation service and cool areas indoors where neither customers nor arugula will wilt in the summer heat. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
Downtown Voices Coalition 