Market Reminder & Holiday Pickup Schedule!

Gearing up for a three day Labor Day extravaganza? Don’t forget to order all the noms you’ll need before The Market closes tomorrow at noon. Surely a hot, humid, holiday weekend like this qualifies as a great reason to break out the barbecue and invite over a whole mess of folks. Allow me to suggest some offerings:

• Italian sausage links from Falling Sky Farm. Seeing the success of their apple brat special last week, these clever farmers have decided to offer the same deal on their delicious Italian sausage. Buy 10 pounds, and you save $1.50 per pound! If you think you’ll never use that much meat, throw one of these babies on a bun with some caramelized peppers and onions, and say hello to your new favorite food!

• Farm fresh eggs a’plenty from any of our talented, chicken herding farmers. Brown, white, green, or jumbo, these are sure to make the best deviled eggs you’ve ever tasted.

• Ice cold watermelon from Green Acres Atkins. Short of a blast from the hose, there’s nothing more refreshing than chilled watermelon. This may be the last week we have them, so order now while the getting is good.

All this and more could be yours this Saturday, just in time to throw the best Labor Day bash on the block! On the other hand, if you’ll be out of town this weekend but still want to eat great next week, we’ve got that covered too. We’re moving the Monday pickup to Tuesday so no one has to miss out on The Market’s offerings. That’s right; you can have your cake and eat it too, as long as it’s zucchini bread made with locally produced zucchini and eggs!

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

The Market is Open and Green Groceries Gala!

Good Morning Market,

First off, a huge, gigantic THANK YOU to the Board members, growers, customers, volunteers, friends, and family that came out and supported us at Whole Foods Market Little Rock last Tuesday. It was awesome to see so many friendly faces and we can’t thank Whole Foods enough for having us. While we don’t yet have the totals on the amount raised, whatever it ends up being, it’ll be thanks to all of you, our amazing network of supporters.

Anyways, the market is open and it’s making me hungry!

• Welcome to new grower The Root Cafe and their scrumptious canned and pickled products. That’s right, folks, besides running the premiere local foods restaurant of the same name, the folks at The Root are actually expert canners as well. Be it dilly beans, chicken stock, green tomato pickles, muscadine wine jelly, pickled okra, or spicy garden pepper marmalade, you’ll find all of that and so much more under locally produced products.

• For those feeling down about the end of fresh peaches, look no further than fresh organic cantaloupes from Crimmins Family Farm to fill the void. I’ll probably eat mine with a dollop of fresh ricotta, but there’s plenty of other options if you’re feeling more adventurous.

• Lots of delicious legumes from Kornegay Berry Farm. Be it butter beans, brown crowder, purple hull, or lady cream peas, they’re all great sources of protein, dietary fiber, and so much more.

• You know when you’ve got that last piece of bar soap that’s too small to do anything with? Thanks to Homayd Natural Care Products, you can save it! Order a suds saver in red, black, or blue under apparel & fabric items.

• Check out the special sale on pawpaw trees from A B C Nature Greenhouse and Herb Farm. They’ll give you a mango and sunflower hybrid pawpaw tree at a great price, and you’ll have delicious homegrown fruit for years to come!

For those of you that haven’t heard of the Green Groceries fresh food pantry, it’s an amazing partnership with our hosts at Christ Episcopal Church to get fresh groceries to low-income folks that often can’t afford it, all while supporting local farmers. On Saturday, September 13th, the church will host a Farm to Church Gala, using the BEST local chefs and ingredients to benefit Green Groceries. You can purchase tickets in the Christ Church office during the week or by calling (501)375-2342.

Thanks for supporting a stronger local food system for all!

- Alex Handfinger
Director of Operations

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Don’t Panic!

There’s still time to get your weekly order in. Lots of time. Now that The Market is open from noon on Sunday until noon on Wednesday, you have an extra five hours each week to plan your menus and browse the awesome offerings of some of Arkansas’ finest farmers. Offerings like:

• Apple bratwurst – Falling Sky Farm. is offering a special on these crowd-pleasing sausages. If you can spare freezer space for 10 pounds, you’ll save $1.50 per pound. If you can’t spare the space, invite everyone you know over for a backyard brat-fest!

• Juliet tomatoes – Whether you order from Crimmins Family Farm or Bee in My Bonnet Farm, you can’t go wrong with this workhorse of a tomatoes. They’re a bit drier than slicing tomatoes, a bit more moist than paste tomatoes, and positively packed with flavor. Use them in salads, sauces, soup, sandwiches, or any other tomato endeavor.

• Blackberry and muscadine jam – The fantastic folks at Bluebird Hill Berry Farm know that you don’t want to steam up your kitchen making jam, but you still want something delicious to jazz up your toast. Lucky for you they make delicious jam with fruit grown on their own farm. Locally made using locally grown ingredients. It doesn’t get any better than that!

While you’re shopping for next week’s fare, don’t forget about this week! If you find yourself wishing you’d ordered just a bit more and don’t want to wait until Saturday to restock your refrigerator, stop by Whole Foods this evening and shop ‘till your heart’s content. No need to feel guilty, because they’re donating 5% of today’s sales to ALFN! In fact, we’ll be there until 7:00pm. So stop by and say hi. We’d love to see you there!

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

The Market is Open and Whole Foods Awaits!

Good Morning Food Club,

The market is open and ready for your orders of delicious local food! Even as the kids head back to school (sorry, kids!) and vacations come to an end, the bounty of summer continues in the market. Apples and watermelons, okra and tomatoes, eggplant and elderberries; sometimes, the selection of local produce feels endless! But even the most hardcore locavores gotta make the occasional trip to the grocery store. Thanks to Whole Foods Market Little Rock, you can purchase non-local items while still supporting local: For their Community Giving Day, ALFN will receive 5% of their total sales this Tuesday, August 19th. We’d love if you’d come on by and help spread the word to show how serious Little Rock is about local!

For your convenience (and last-minute orders), we’ve changed the hours of our market from noon on Sunday to noon on Wednesday. Some of the amazing items you can get this week include:

• Those of us at the market yesterday were lucky enough to sample Ratchford Farms’ elk summer sausage. This is a sausage packed full of flavor that even non-elk lovers enjoyed, and the Ratchfords are a nationally-recognized gem of the Ozarks.

• I’ve enjoyed my fair share of time outdoors during this beautiful, cool summer, and I’ve never gotten poison ivy nearly as frequently or severely. I’m ordering Food for Thought Farm’s poison ivy salve to save me from the next time I enjoy a walk in the woods.

• Add in some bug banisher from Tammy Sue’s Critters and I should be well protected for any outdoor excursion. She’s only got 5 days left to fund her kiva.zip loan, and loan amounts are currently being doubled! So please help out and spread the word and make sure Tammy Sue gets funded.

• If you’re a believer that a good meal reflects the colors of the rainbow, look no further than organic sweet colored peppers from Rattle’s Garden. These are absolutely gorgeous peppers that just so happen to taste incredible, too.

• I’ve been informed by a loyal Food Club customer that local peaches make the absolute best cobbler…which makes me sad to say that we’re just about at the end of this year’s season. Snag some today from Barnhill Orchards for the last taste of fresh ones ’til next summer.

Interested in helping start the first solar energy cooperative in the Little Rock area? Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light will host the first organizational meeting this Wednesday, August 20th, from 5:30-7 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 12415 Cantrell Rd. in Little Rock. At the meeting Frank Kelly, Chairman of Arkansas Renewable Energy Association, will facilitate a discussion of a new initiative in which a group of homeowners, schools, houses of worship, and small businesses might purchase clean energy systems together. Systems are individually owned, but participants benefit from group negotiating power and bulk prices. A solar energy co-op could help us all afford to declare energy independence, so interested folks are encouraged to come out with a brown bag supper regardless of church or religious affiliation.

Hope to see you at Whole Foods on Tuesday!

- Alex Handfinger
Director of Operations

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Spread the word and bring a friend! ALFN is honored to be chosen for Whole Foods Market’s Community Giving Day. On Tuesday, August 19th, we will be at Whole Foods from 9AM to 7PM meetin’ and greetin’ fellow lovers of great food, and sharing our mission with the community. Stop by and say hi, while shopping for all the quality groceries you might not be able to source locally. (Mmm, avocado…) In fact, stock up on everything in the store! Whole Foods is generously donating 5% of the day’s sales to ALFN to help us achieve our goals. So if you yearn for things that don’t grow so well here in The Natural State (fair trade coffee, anyone?) now is your chance to stock up guilt free. Can’t imagine what you might need that’s not on The Market? Allow me to make some suggestions:

Coconut Oil. Although it has a myriad of uses and almost as many health benefits, I keep it on hand because it’s just plain tasty for roasting certified organic green beans and Romano beans from Armstead Mountain Farm.

Grains. There’s a wide variety of grains available in the bulk bins these days. Whether it’s millet or quinoa, amaranth or rice, there’s bound to be a grain out there well suited to your nutritional needs. What they all have in common is the ability to pair swimmingly with Arkansas Natural Produce’s Swiss chard, and White River Creamery’s American Feta.

Tofu. Scrambled, chili-ed, or loaf-ed, tofu is best when jazzed up with flavor packed sweet colored peppers from Rattle’s Garden and chive scapes from Food for Thought Farm.

There’s no shame in having a shelf or even a whole pantry full of not-so-locally-sourced ingredients, especially if they’re high quality and sustainably sourced. In fact, keeping a few imports on hand keeps a mostly local menu interesting by incorporating nutrients and flavors our climate doesn’t really offer. So if you find yourself occasionally thinking outside the state when dinnertime rolls around, prepare a lengthy list and set any semblance of guilt aside in preparation for next Tuesday. If your tastes are global, this is your change to support the local food community by getting exactly what you want. Maybe we really can all get along.

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Ding! Ding! Ding! The Market is OPEN!

Merry Sunday Morning, Y’all!

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s an impressively oppressive combo of heat and humidity in the air. It sure does make me thankful that I can order a week’s worth of fabulous, locally grown groceries from the climate controlled comfort of my couch. What am I planning to order this week? I’m so glad you asked!

Pasture raised eggs. A staple in almost every household, when it comes to versitility eggs can’t be beat. (Ha!) Whatever your favorite farm, don’t forget to add a dozen or two to your order. Breakfast just wouldn’t be the same.

Bratwurst. Arguably the easiest hot dinner for those days when there’s precious little time to cook. Boil brats for about half an hour. (Bonus flavor points for boiling them in beer!) Meanwhile, make a salad or roast a veggie. Plop brats in buns with mustard and a tasty fermented relish, or the condiments of your choosing, and enjoy! The best part is, with so many farmers offering so many flavors, there’s bound to be something for even the pickiest eater.

Peppers. Green, red, or purple. Sweet, spicy, or downright flaming hot. The Market is full of a myriad of peppers suited to any possible purpose you can imagine. Stuffed bells? Fresh salsa? Homemade pepper vinegar? Order now, and you can have it all!

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Turkey Time?

Thanksgiving probably isn’t on your mind at all this time of year, but maybe it should be! Our pragmatic friends at Falling Sky Farm are certainly already thinking about it. Having just received an adorable batch of baby gobblers, they’re now taking deposits on pasture raised turkeys for this fall. I recall multiple inquiries last November as to where one could buy a pastured bird, but by then all the best sources were sold out! If you want to impress your loved ones with tasty turkey that surpasses all others this year, I highly recommend reserving your bird before The Market closes tomorrow morning.

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

In Memory of Nao

Friends,

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the unexpected passing of one of our co-founders, Nao Ueda. She was an advocate of sustainability, a champion of social justice, and a pillar in the local food community. She will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

The outpouring of love and support in memory of Nao has truly been an inspiration. She has been a mentor and leader for so many of us and is proof of the immense difference one person can make when they fight for what they believe in. Thanks for everything you’ve done to make this city a better place, Nao.

The market is still open 7 years later because of the strong foundation that Nao laid.

A dear friend that has recovered from depression urged that one of the worst things we can do with mental illness is to not talk about it. So please, if you or anyone you know is depressed or suicidal, reach out, and know that there is always help.

Finally, I leave you with a dear friend’s inspirational words:

- Alex Handfinger

Remembering Nao —

It is incredibly painful to lose a friend. The pain is heightened when an amazing person takes her own life. As many others have said, let us follow her example, and do all we can to save the earth.

Suicide seems senseless, even stupid, to the observer. But I know that to those of us living with depression, the option at times may seem like the only choice left – for unfortunate souls who don’t realize that there is help and hope, for those who have tried to get help and failed because our mental health care system is broken, and for those who have not responded to or not tolerated treatments that aren’t complete cures, and don’t help everyone. I know whereof I speak. Thirty years ago, I was depressed and suicidal. I didn’t think I had a mental illness. I didn’t have hope at first, but was encouraged by loved ones and coworkers to get treatment. What can we do to help others? Learn about mental illness and suicide prevention. Be curious and care about others’ welfare. Don’t stigmatize mental illness, talk about it. Vote for candidates who support parity in insurance coverage for mental health treatment. And when we mourn the loss of those we care about to an awful illness, get up the next morning and do what we can to make the world a better place.

Market Reminder!

It’s almost August, and The Market is chock full of fantastic summer food. But while you’re ogling the mini red seedless watermelons from Hardin Farms and certified organic peaches from Green Acres Atkins, don’t forget that there’s more to summer than just the food.

There’s also the bugs. That’s right. Summer in Arkansas just wouldn’t be the same without a few ticks and our ever-present mascot, the mosquito. Luckily, we have a something on The Market to help you tame the swarms and avoid the itch. If you’re not already a devoted fan of bug banisher from Tammy Sue’s Critters, order a tube today and prepare to be converted. Using a few select essential oils, this magical substance manages to repel insects without harmful chemicals, and it even smells great!

Of course, even if you can stave off the insect world, sometimes it only takes a leaf or two to ruin a great hike. If you’ve ever encountered poison oak, ivy, or sumac during your outdoor adventures, you know the importance of washing off the offending oils and dousing itchy areas in calming calamine as quickly as possible. Why not take things one step further and soothe while you scrub? With calamine soap from Homayd Natural Care Products you can do just that!

With these two tools in your arsenal, you can enjoy all the outdoor opportunities for fun that summer in The Natural State has to offer, but only if you order before The Market closes tomorrow morning.

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

The Market is Open!

Hello Local Food Lovers,

The market is open with almost 800 products available for ordering (754 to be exact). That’s 754 locally-grown and produced products from small Arkansas farms and businesses. Customers select from the widest selection of local vendors and products in Central Arkansas, while growers drop pre-sold products off with us and then sell their products elsewhere, increasing their sales, stability, and customer base. While all this probably isn’t news to most of you, it can be easy to forget what a truly great thing we have going here. Thank you so much to our Board, staff, volunteers, partners, growers, and customers like you for keeping us growing seven years strong.

Anyways, I digress. On the market this week:

• Gourmet selections from Kent Walker Artisan Cheese. Kent’s been blessing Little Rock with his high quality cheeses for a few years now, and word on the street is that it shouldn’t be too long before Kent brings a cheese, wine, and beer tasting room to Main Street. We’re SO excited for this, but until then, we’ll quite happily make do with his Bluff Top Gouda, Garlic Montasio, Habanero Cheddar, Leicester, and Ophelia from the market.

• I’m always amazed at the variety, quality, and selection of products from the awesome folks at Falling Sky Farm. Besides raising cattle, chickens, lamb, and pigs, they also run Conway Locally Grown and have been a pillar of pushing our local food movement forward. Falling Sky is a farm that was founded with a mission, and it really does show in the quality of their products. Besides, BACON.

• In perhaps my favorite listing ever, WEEDS from Food for Thought Farm. You read that right: WEEDS. It turns out a lot of that stuff that we pull out of the ground is actually quite nutritious and delicious. So try something new, support a small farm, and rebel against corporate agriculture all with one order!

• I’m counting over 30 different vegetable listings from Arkansas Natural Produce alone. That number’s even more amazing when you learn how small of a team brings us all of these year-round greens and other goodness. All of their products are outstanding, but their spring mix just may be one of the best salad blends anywhere, and their shiitake mushrooms are one item that I can rarely go without.

• One of the many perks to volunteering with ALFN is our wonderful snacks, which almost always include veggies alongside some Geek Eats hummus. I still can’t quite decide which hummus I love most, though the carrot curry and black bean & feta are fairly hard to beat. Then again, their cilantro almond pesto is my favorite pesto on the planet…Welp, guess I still can’t decide, ‘cause they’re all so great!

We’re incredibly blessed to call Christ Episcopal Church home. Besides graciously hosting our growing nonprofit, they fund and manage the amazing Green Groceries Food Pantry and have supported local food in a way that we could probably never repay. One way we can try is by shopping at their gigantic Re-Sell it Sale this Thursday, July 31st to Saturday, August 2nd. They’ve gathered a truly impressive selection of clothing, accessories, books, and SO much more, and all proceeds from the sale support a variety of charities in the community and projects within the parish. The sale will be in the 2nd floor gym on Thursday and Friday from 8:30-4 and Saturday from 8:30-2:30. So stop by before picking up your local food order, snag some great deals, AND support an amazing organization that truly practices what they preach.

Locally Yours,

- Alex Handfinger
Director of Operations

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!