GROW North Texas, a nonprofit organization made up of “Dallas area local food folks” dedicated to creating the ideal food system, will serve as the farm-to-market liaison between area farmers and Dallas Farmers Market Management. Their mission? “To connect North Texans to food, farms, and community in order to create a sustainable, secure regional food system that enriches the land, encourages economic opportunity through food and agriculture, and supports equitable access to healthy, nutritious food for all.”
A little background on GROW North Texas: The organization was created in 2012. Their vision is “to provide the information, skills, and access that will create”an ideal food system. The ideal is a SHOVEL. According to their website:
SHOVEL is…Secure. Healthy. Open. Vibrant. Equitable. Local.
Susie Marshall, the executive director GROW North Texas, is also president of the Dallas Farmers Market Friends. Her responsibilities will include: “Supervision and facilitation of communication and support for the farmers who sell in the market; recruiting new farmers; verification of registered farms and their crops; encouraging feedback and mutual education; coordination of crop diversity and planting; market operations for setting rates and maintaining market standards for sales and customer relations; enforcing rules, regulations and produce standards; health code compliance; and optimizing the vendor mix in Shed 1 as the growing seasons change.”
To secure the appointment, Ms. Marshall had to swear she would never eat at Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum. (I made that up. Just wanted to see if you were still with me.)
If you are a devoted DFM customer, you know Shed 1 in the Dallas Farmers Market is under construction and is scheduled to reopen in June. The new Shed 1 will provide a day-at-the-spa experience for our hard-working farmers. They will be treated to heaters, fans, misters, sinks for washing produce, larger stalls to accommodate more storage, and a refreshed look with new paint and concrete. A stage will be built at the East end of the shed for live music to entertain weekend shoppers. The new Shed 1 will accommodate more than double the number of farmers, as vehicular traffic will no longer be allowed.
I can’t wait to see it. It will be peaches, I’m sure. Oh, almost forgot. I hear that Rex’s Seafood Market is going in Shed 2 as one of the new anchor tenants. Not confirmed. Just tossing it out there.
