So.ME.Vegans: Scarborough Market Haul 7.11.10

So it's time for us to admit that as nice as the Saco Farmers' Market is, there are others in Southern Maine. It's probably out of convenience being that we live in Saco, but we've largely ignored the other markets in the area. We were out of town Saturday and so had to find another venue to get our produce fix this week. This worked out for the best since we were finally able to visit the farmers' market in Scarborough.

We've bought from Alewive's Brook Farm before in Saco, and knew that we would also find them when we visited the market in Scarborough, but we weren't at all prepared for the massive abundance of great stuff they would have. Their booth here is about triple in size to their display in Saco. This could probably be explained by their much closer proximity, being that their home base is in Cape Elizabeth. We were really jazzed to find some rutabaga and kale there, which we're planning on serving up tonight over grilled polenta cakes. Needless to say we'll keep supporting them in both locations, but finding their larger display in Scarborough was a revelation.

New to us was Root One. Very little info can be found about them online, but we know for sure they had some of the finest looking root vegetables available there today. We've kinda been beeten into submission lately so we opted to just pick up some cilantro. We are planning on hitting them up again though in the next couple of weeks. Especially since on our visit we noticed scrawled on the sign board that they will soon be selling edamame. Look forward to more on that.

We were also excited to find some nice looking bok choy at the booth of Fresh Start Farms. The concept is mostly what grabbed our attention though. The operation is part of Cultivating Community, a MOFGA certified organization based in Portland that assists refugees and immigrants displaced by the conflict in Somalia. Farmers back home, the displaced are bringing their skills here to Maine and are, as stated on their website, dedicated to "strengthening communities by growing food, preparing youth leaders and new farmers, and promoting social and environmental justice". This is a worthwhile local project to get behind. Learn more about their community by watching this video or by following on Twitter.