All the vendors at the Salem Saturday Market (and the Wednesday Market) are worth a look and merit your support. Even if what they're selling isn't to your taste, they are strengthening the fabric of our community by coming and offering their wares directly to us.
Last week I bought a belt at the Saturday Market and, while I was finishing my purchase, I heard one woman who was looking at some of the beautiful handcrafted belts in the stand -- all made by the man selling them, right here in Salem. She said "Aren't these pretty?" and her friend replied "You can get them cheaper at Wal-Mart."
Well, yes, you can. But then you get a belt that certainly did not help a real craftsman live a decent life. Instead, most of the price of a Wal-Mart belt goes to support a corporation that cheats and oppresses its workers, that destroys community businesses for miles around, and that has built a totally unsustainable business model that is entirely dependent on using and wasting copious amounts of cheap energy.
Luckily, we have the Salem Saturday Market offer us an alternative to this kind of (un)thinking. This month, two vendors have really stood out for quality:
First, Matt's Eggs. Matt is apparently the next generation at Polska Farms and he sells wonderful eggs. Yesterday, he sold us a dozen huge, wonderfully flavorful eggs for $4.50. The yolks look like little bright yellow suns they are so intensely colored. Beautiful.
Second, Rose Valley Butter. This is, simply put, the best butter I've ever had -- and that includes four years enjoying some great food while at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where great dairies abound. A pound of their salted organic butter is $6 at the Salem Saturday Market, and cheap at that price. On some homemade wheat bread, Rose Valley butter is out of this world.
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Oh! Matt's Eggs are my favorite! We get two dozen every week. They are so good. They also take the cartons back to reuse.
I am going to have to check out the butter next weekend. That sounds so good!
I got some neat produce from Persephone farms this week - Garlic whistles! I am going to bake them into bread.
Also, my friend just started selling hand stamped cards at the market. They are the same price, if not cheaper than a hallmark card, but nicer looking and buying them would help support a mom in our area. ;)
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