Note that Arcadia Food, which operates the green bus farmers market in LeDroit Park at 3rd and Elm St NW, is mentioned.
Farmers’ markets around the city have officially begun hawking mustard greens and handing out sheep’s milk cheese samples for the season. This year, though, the rhubarb pies and ramps will come with one additional ingredient: new red tape.
Until recently, the destinations for your weekly local food fix were barely regulated. The D.C. Department of Health never inspected farmers’ markets, and market organizers had relatively limited interaction with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
But while everyone was fighting over where food trucks would get to park last year, it turns out the mayor and D.C. Council were also approving significant changes for D.C.’s farmers’ markets as part of the 83-page vending code update.
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Arcadia’s Mobile Market—a refurbished school bus that visits underserved areas across the region to provide fresh foods—sells eggs from its own small farm in Alexandria. The eggs meets Virginia’s rules, but Arcadia may be restricted in selling them in D.C. Arcadia Food Access Director Benjamin Bartley says it would be “a huge drawback” if they lose the ability to sell eggs, “which are by every measure fresher and coming from a healthy verified source.”
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In the meantime, many market managers say they’re waiting to see how things will play out.
“Without there being a track record for these agencies being more involved in farmers’ markets, we’re all kind of a little bit in the dark, hoping that if there’s any conflicting regulations between the agencies and miscommunications, we’ll all work together toward making a system that works well for everybody,” Arcadia’s Bartley says. “But yeah, market season for us is starting...and we still don’t have all the information we need.”
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