This past Saturday Eric, Mandy, and I got up early and drove to Greensboro for a taste of our neighboring city’s local foods scene. The curb market has a rep for emphasizing local foods and a nice selection of vendors serving up value-added products, international flavors, prepared foods.
We got there around 9pm and the place was humming. They have a great indoor facility with several long rows of vendors’ booths. The crowds and the selection of goods gave the market an exciting atmosphere, reminding me of some of the market experiences I’ve had in Mexico and Indonesia — although not even close to the same scale. But it got me thinking about the psychology of the market and how we can make them more of a thrill through design alone — the idea of winding, labrinythine stalls and the robust aromas intoxicating the shopper — so different from the numbingly sterile aisles of the supermarket.
We wandered around to find things not easily had at our own Krankies Market. Some highlights were the garlic farmers (Eric bought 9 different types to sample and to try and grow!), the Columbian Arepas ladies, the tasty (but pricey) African veggie soul food, Charles Shields — the nut butter empresario, and our friend Phillip Gillespie who was selling some beautiful fig trees, muscadines, and blueberry bushes. Oh, and Mamie, the sweet lady with the sweet potato pies — dang!
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- Mandy gets some lima beans
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- Eric tries them all
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- He gave me a deal on Asian Cashew Sauce — it’s awesome!
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- Every South American country has it’s own version of this cornmeal cake!
After the curb market we hit up Deep Roots Co-Op just to see how they’ve been doing it in Greensboro and get some prospective for our co-op plans.
