Originally uploaded by christaki
For our next installment of Farmers Markets on the Hill…we checked out The DC Open Air Farmers Market at RFK Stadium.
The RFK Market seems like a hidden gem. There isn’t much written about it, and many of the open threads have the same question over and over. “Is the RFK Market still open?” It is, and I think one commenter said it quite nicely, “We’ve been going to the RFK market for more than 25 yrs. It’s mostly a producers’ market and has real quality in locally grown foods – long before local became cool.”
And after my trip to check it out, that about sums it up. Nothing fancy, just local food the way it should be. Who doesn’t love a Saturday morning trip in the fresh air to get the fixins’ for a delicious home-cooked meal in the backyard. I know my fellow THIH friends are in the market for some outdoor dining, given everyone’s chores this past weekend. And a recent NPR piece by Nadia Popovich has me loving the RFK Market even more. Take a peek at this insightful video. I’ll wait.
“A Fresh Leaf for Food Stamps in Washington, D.C.”
More and more markets are starting to accept food stamps, which I think is a fantastic idea. Ever since I watched Food, Inc., and more recently, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I’ve really tried to understand why this isn’t a nation-wide movement. We need to feed our kids better than we are. Chips and cookies should never be the only options for the youth of America relying on government assistance for their meals.
There is hope, though! As part of the initiative at the RFK Market, “Freshfarm has now implemented a “double dollars” program, based on a model first set up by the Wholesome Wave Foundation. For every food stamp dollar a customer spends at the market, they get an additional dollar of free food money, doubling the value of the food stamps. It made the difference.” But enough of my soapbox…
I would definitely recommend heading out to RFK for a fun Saturday morning.
DC Open Air Farmers MarketRFK Stadium, parking lot 6
Oklahoma Avenue & Benning Road
Washington, DC 20002
Open now through November
Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday
7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
I’ve lived two blocks from Eastern Market for over two years now and I never knew RFK hosted a market! I’ll be sure to check this out in the next couple of weeks!
I love farmer’s markets, and can’t wait to check this place out!
But I just can’t support the concept of using food stamps at the local farmer’s market.
Chips and cookies aren’t the only options for the youth of America. There are plenty of low-cost fruits and vegetables available at Safeway — think canned, frozen, dried, juiced, etc. As this Slate article — http://www.slate.com/id/2248882 — explains, “all forms of fruits and vegetables matter.” Fresh and nutritious aren’t synonyms — frozen and canned produce is just as healthy for you as the fresh (and expensive) stuff.
That’s the problem with using food stamps at Farmer’s Markets — paying $3.99/pound for tomatoes just doesn’t make sense when you’re living in poverty. Safeway’s store-brand lean cuisines are typically $2.00 each — they’re incredibly healthy, low in calories, high in protein, etc. And they’re complete meals. 2.00 doesn’t buy much for you at the farmer’s market.
I love this article. You made it your own and saw it from different perspectives. Thanks.
That’s so funny– when I first saw the title, my first thought was, “There’s a market at RFK?”
Now I can’t wait to try it!
It seems like a common theme. Glad we could bring the market to everyone’s attention!