Rediscovering Food: Fishing & Farmers’ Markets

By Amy Seigel, 6-10-05

The weather in Salt Lake City over the past few weeks suggests we’re stuck in early April, but this Saturday’s events—the opening of the Downtown Farmers' Market and the statewide Free Fishing Day—represent two welcome indications that summer has indeed begun. As an avid angler and an incorrigible foodie, I take the convergence of these events as a sign of good things to come. Though Saturday’s activities might seem directed at two entirely different sorts of people, I see them as having much more in common than a mere date on a calendar.

Not only do markets and fishing signal the arrival of longer, warmer days best spent wading in western rivers or gathering with friends around a barbecue or picnic basket, they also provide us with ample opportunities to recall where our food really comes from. These days, that mostly entails a carton or box, a fast food window, or a neatly organized grocery store shelf. We consume at a safe distance; generally we’d rather not know how it is that we can buy strawberries in winter or beef in the middle of the most crowded cities in the world. Luckily, Free Fishing Day and the Salt Lake City Farmers’ Market grant everyone in town the increasingly unique opportunity to experience what Wendell Berry described as the “agricultural act� of eating.

While Tom Pettengill, sport fisheries coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, describes Free Fishing Day as a time for families or those people who may not be able to afford a fishing license to get out and enjoy the sport, he notes the event is largely motivated by the reality that many “people in urban society have lost touch with where their food comes from.� Since most anglers these days practice catch-and-release fishing, the appeal of Free Fishing Day certainly has less to do with landing a free dinner than with spending a day on the water with friends or family. However, a legally strung trout makes for both an excellent meal and a reminder that people once had to work to eat.

The Farmers’ Market represents another multi-purpose event reuniting us with the key elements of our daily meals. Along with providing what Market Director Brad Baird calls an “economic catalyst� for what was once a very run-down part of downtown Salt Lake City, the event concentrates plenty of positive attention on local farmers and small business owners. According to Baird, one of the main purposes of the market is bringing the focus back to the local farmer. “This is where your food comes from,� says Baird, “this stuff was picked yesterday or this morning and is right from the farm...farm direct.� And judging from the market’s skyrocketing popularity, the appeal of buying direct from local growers, artisans, and small business owners will only continue to develop.

Aside from providing Salt Lake City residents with plenty of unique and delicious dining experiences and unarguably the summer’s freshest produce, Christi Paulson, President of Slow Food Utah, reminds us that there are numerous altruistic reasons to support such local markets. “At the farmers’ market you get to meet the person who grows your food,� says Paulson. “You directly support the farmer by cutting out the middle men, allowing him to make a living wage off what he grows.� Furthermore, Paulson reminds us that while the average piece of produce travels over 1,500 miles to its resting place in your grocery store’s aisles, a decision to buy from local farmers and ranchers helps reduce fossil fuel consumption while simultaneously supporting what have become dying industries in the West and across America.

But to be honest, do you really need more incentive than piles of ripe berries, glorious heirloom tomatoes, and booths packed with delectable treats stretching as far as the eye can see?

The 2005 Downtown Farmers’ Market is produced by the Downtown Alliance and takes place on Saturdays, June 11th to October 15th, from 8:00am to 1:00pm at the Historic Pioneer Park (300 South & 300 West) in Downtown Salt Lake City. [End of article]