White Rock Local Market

New this summer to the East Dallas area is the White Rock Local Market.  Based on my initial review of their operations, what appears to make this market unique is the set of “local” requirements asked of each vendor.  Vendors must originate within a 150-mile radius of Dallas, offer a variety of sustainable or organically produced products and sell at least 60% of the home-sourced product directly. I estimate that there were about 40 vendors at the July market.  Special events, like live music, are also planned during market days.  What better way to start or end your Saturday morning White Rock Lake ride, walk or clean up effort?

For information about becoming a vendor, a list of market vendors or general information, please see their website.

WRLM will open in March in 2010.  Hours/Dates: 8am-1:00pm on the second & fourth Saturdays of each month at the Green Spot Market (702 N. Buckner Blvd. at Northcliff Dr. – map).

Farmer’s Market – Bolsa (7/5/09)

Once a month, Bolsa is hosting a local farmer’s market that brings together a variety of local companies to sample and sell their products.  I attended this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was great, so be sure to check it out in July!

This is not a Young Sierrans organized event.

Meet the restaurant’s suppliers as well as neighbors, including the Texas Honeybee Guild, chocolatier Katherine Clapner, farmers and ranchers from Eden Creek Farm, Kessler Cookies and others. Live entertainment.

http://listings.guidelive.com/dallas-tx/events/show/87551788-farmers-market

Bolsa / 614 W. Davis St. / Dallas, TX 75208 / (214) 367-9367

Dallas Area CSA Opportunities

For information on Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) opportunities in the North Texas area, please see the CSA link on Local Harvest’s website.

In addition to learning which farms offer CSAs, and how to contact them, you can also review/rate your experiences.  As of this posting, there were five CSAs in the North Texas Area.  Enter your zip to determine which is closest.

Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (TOFGA) – General Info

TOFGA is a publicly supported, non-profit association whose members include commercial plant growers, ranchers, farmers, retailers, wholesalers, processors, distributors, consumers, and anyone desiring to support the organic industry in Texas.

Their primary mission is to promote organic agriculture as a sustainable systems approach in the production of food and fiber – a system that protects human and animal health, and preserves the environment.

For more info or to check out their calendar of events (upcoming conferences, etc.), please visit their site: http://www.tofga.org/

Slow Food (International/Dallas)

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic membership-supported organization that educates people about how their food choices affect the rest of the world. They have over 80,000 members all over the world. The Internet resources available through their site are comprehensive and current (some examples: local picks – restaurants, food stores/markets; slow links – food info on just about anything you could ask).

Slow Food International Site

Slow Food Dallas Official Site
Slow Food Dallas Blog

Local Farms/Ranches Cont’d

The January Dallas Sierra Club program included local TOFGA (Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) members from Eden’s Organic Garden Center (Jackie King) and Rehoboth Ranch (Robert Hutchins).

Eden’s offers Market Days in Balch Springs, TX, where you can find food from “organic and sustainable Texas producers/ranchers/farmers” on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month between March and December. They also sponsor a Dallas Organic Gardening Club which meets monthly in north Dallas.

Rehoboth Ranch in Greenville, TX, sells “lean and clean, grass fed lamb and beef.” They can be found in many of the local DFW farmer’s markets and supply their products through a local home delivery company, Nature to Your Door (site unavailable at time of posting).