Farmers Market

I had a little bit of time to check out the new farmers market today and I was pretty pleased with it. It was mostly strawberries and root vegetables for sale, which makes sense for the season in California. There were some stands with prepared food and vendors selling tea, olives, bags, handmade soaps, and the like.

I didn't get any strawberries because they're 99 cents a package at Suvianda right now, but I will definitely be trying the organic strawberries next week. I bought some spinach but I'd like to see some mixed greens and tomatoes in the future. For the first day and the hot weather, I think it had a good turn out and was really well organized. I'm looking forward to more variety in the weeks ahead. The organizers were cleaning up when I got off of work tonight and they did a great job, you'd never know they were there.

I hope the San Jose State community takes advantage of this. In my ethnographic methods class last semester we had to interview students and faculty about their health and it was a recurring theme that people wanted fresh and local produce options. It's hard to get the word out though so I'm wondering what's being done. I haven't seen or heard anything on campus yet.

right out the front door...

-The San Pedro Square farmers market will be back next Friday.
-The corrected press release follows:

City Hall Farmer's Market 3-7:30pm Starts Tues 4/21/09

The Tuesday Market provides a full-city sustainable marketplace that uses Earth Day as a jumping off point to promote greener lifestyle messages like living/working/buying local, eating organic, building/using renewable resources, and supporting green businesses.

Partners include City of San Jose Environmental Services Department, Metro Newspapers, San Jose State University, the San Jose Downtown Association, the San Jose Downtown Residents Association and other stakeholders

This is an opportunity to adopt new practices and improve the quality of our environment for a sustainable San Jose. We encourage you to walk, take convenient VTA Public Transit, or ride your bike to our free bike-parking area. If you must drive, we have two-hour parking validation for shoppers only.

The Tuesday Market is a "ZERO WASTE" event. Please bring your own reusable shopping bag or basket.

Tuesday Market is located on 5th St. between San Fernando Street and City Hall Plaza, and will be held every Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. beginning April 21, 2009.

9 - week pilot program through June 16

full 20 - week program through September 1

BEST DAY EVER

After drinking Yuban brand coffee for a week I had my favorite Jeremiah's Pick Dark Roast Breakfast Blend back in house today. Little did I know this would be the beginning of the most awesome day ever. The first emails I read today while I was drinking my coffee were the following:

1. I was accepted to University College Dublin for the 09-10 school year.
2. I got my financial aid for next year.
3. Photos of a border collie puppy.

When I got back from the computer lab there was a notice on my door marked urgent. I thought I was being evicted on my celebration day, but it turns out that the gods are smiling down on me because...

"The City of San Jose and San Jose State University have elected to hold a Farmer's Market on all of 5th street, every Tuesday, beginning April 21st, through September 1, 2009, from 12:00 noon, to 8:00 pm."

This is directly in front of my door. I can literally walk outside on Tuesdays and have farmers there with fresh food. It's too good to be true. I will probably go twice on these days, once before class to have a good choice, and once before they close up to get deals because they don't like to bring food back to the farm from the market. I'm going to be swimming in strawberries and tomatoes and greens and melons and avocados...

What a fantastic day, this was exactly the lift I needed. This week started off terribly but the last two days have really been reinvigorating. Perfect timing! I'm going to go have an Arcade Fire dance party with myself and get ready for work, which can't deter my good mood today. From now on, at every table I wait on, I can remind myself that I will have next year to study and not work, for once.