Farmers Markets in Portland

Last month, the economics professor (Stacey Jones) and her business-statistics class at Seattle University compared prices for organic produce at the Broadway Farmers Market with that sold at the local QFC supermarket and Madison Market, one of several cooperatively owned grocery stores in the region.

To their surprise, the farmers market was slightly less expensive pound for pound, on average, for 15 items that included Fuji apples, red potatoes, baby carrots, spinach and salad mix.

"There's sort of a common perception that the farmers market is more expensive. A lot of people feel they're doing the farmers a favor," Jones said.

"I always assumed you pay a premium," said Daniel Robins, one of Jones' students, who regularly shops the West Seattle Farmers Market with his parents.

The Hillsdale Farmers Market is a good one. First of all, it's on Sundays. Free parking is close by. It's big enough to have at least one of everything but not so big that you get overwhelmed. There's a pork vendor there that is magnificent, some folks that make tasty wood-fired bagels, and a soup vendor that I cross town for.

They will also be open in November from 9 AM to 1 PM.

This is a small, but very enthusiastic market. There actually is a community table where folks can sell their produce, or in this morning's case, tamales and horchata. A small collection of farmers are there. We picked up strawberries and fresh ameraucanas eggs, in the colors of organic cotton. If I had chickens, I'd get ameraucanas, just for the colored eggs. The chickens who produce these eggs are free range, and they live about 10 blocks from the market. How's that for local? A new round of hens will be old enough to lay brown eggs in next couple weeks. Yum.

Visit the Lents International Farmers Market and you will find a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, baked goods, plants, flowers and prepared foods, many of which were grown or prepared by immigrants and refugees living in the Portland area. International music, children's entertainment and educational talks and demonstrations by chefs, nutritionists and gardeners, are all a part of the weekly fun! The market accepts WIC and Senior coupons and will soon accept the Oregon Trail card. A community table is available for anyone who would like to sell their extras from their home gardens. This is our first year of weekly markets.

Now in its second year with "a formidable variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, live music, prepared food vendors, and hand-crafted goods". They are looking for volunteers, donations, and sponsors, and you can learn more at their website.

Are you looking for hard to find farmers market items and not finding them? Perhaps The Guide to Local and Seasonal Products can help.

There is a print version, but better yet is the online version, which is always up-to-date, because it can be updated at any point by farmers. You can search through the over 6 screens (!) of produce, meats and dairy items, figure out which farms grow or raise them, and from there, figure out which farmers markets you need to hit to get what you're looking for. Brilliant, no?

While this is definitely more geared to restaurant buyers, I found it very useful.

The Guide to Local and Seasonal Products — used to both buy and sell product — has become an indispensable part of doing business for producers and buyers alike.

Participating farmers, ranchers and fishermen are categorized by the products they sell as well as listed alphabetically. This makes it easy for buyers to look up a product, such as beets or salmon, and then cross reference the index to obtain contact information as well as details about a seller's product.

Available in print and on-line, and updated annually, the 2006 Guide to Local and Seasonal Products includes expanded Oregon and Washington listings.