Eat Arkansas

Oh goody! I will be sure to rush down there this Saturday to buy a bunch of produce that I could purchase at my local Kroger.

Exactly, ChefsWife. The name Farmer's Market is incredibly misleading, unless it refers to the fact that, at some point in the distant past, it was grown on a farm somewhere. I was down there last month and saw a guy with pineapples. Seriously?

I agree that most of them sell produce grown elsewhere. In fact, one of them is a produce manager at Sam's Club and sells its leftovers. Goody! Asian vendors grow their produce, so support them instead of faux farmers. I went there this morning and bought nanohana, which I have no clue what it is in English. I chop them up, cook with proscuitto, and add angel hair pasta and cheese. Yum yum!

Well you can always count on the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Argenta every weekend. At least there you know what you're getting. Their selection may not be as vast as their counterpart, but I'd rather buy local and support Arkansas farmers than have no idea where my produce came from. Plus, they don't need cheap ploys like Top Chef!

Also, if you want to support Arkansas farmers, check out the Farm to Table dinner that Ashley's restaurant is holding. Local chefs work with local farmers to create a menu, and last year it was amazing. I think tickets are $150 and that gets you several courses, wine pairings and cocktails. Not sure on the date, but call Ashley's if you're interested.

nanohana -
Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rapaseed and (in the case of one particular group of cultivars) canola, is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). The name derives from the Latin for turnip, rāpum or rāpa, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century. Older writers usually distinguished the turnip and rape by the adjectives round and long(-rooted) respectively.[2] See also Brassica napobrassica, which may be considered a variety of Brassica napus. Some botanists include the closely related Brassica campestris within B. napus. From Wikipedia.