04 Nov Hot Food BACK at SFC Farmers’ Market Starting Next Week!

Austin, TX (November 4, 2010) – Austin City Council voted Thursday, October 28th, 2010, to revise the City of Austin Health Code 10-3, to include a Temporary Food Establishment permit for Certified Farmers Market within the city. The permit will go into effect November 8th.
 
The permit will allow for cooking hot food, scooping ice into drinks and performing chef’s demos with immediate sampling at the farmers markets. The element of farmer-focused foods being grilled, cooked, heated and served immediately on site at the Sustainable Food Center (SFC) Farmers’ Market Downtown this past summer helped raise customer interest and purchases by 40%. The SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown (as well as the two other main markets at Sunset Valley and The Triangle) requires that the ready-to-eat and value-added food vendors use local farmer products in their dishes sold at the market, contributing to a rise in the local farm economy.
 
"The farmers experience a double sale when chefs cook at the market," said SFC Farmers’ Market Director Suzanne Santos. "They sell ingredients for the hot food to the chefs, then that item sold at the market generates another sale to the same customer to take home."
 
A farmers’ market benefits overall from the cooking of hot foods because more people tend to come to markets for the camaraderie in sharing recipes and cooking techniques, the sights, smells and sounds of delicious food being prepared well and the education naturally imparted about local foods.
 
"We are thrilled that this resolution will allow for hot food preparation at farmers’ markets, resulting in increased revenue for local family farms and improved awareness of our local food system," said SFC Executive Director Ronda Rutledge.
 
Food vendors that will take advantage of the Temporary Food Establishment permits include Jesse and Tamara Griffiths of Dai Due, who feature sausage and biscuits and gravy (voted one of the top ten farmers’ markets meals in the country by Bon Appétit Magazine in September), Quincy Adams Erickson of Fete Accompli, Jam Sanitchat of Thai Fresh and many more.
 
The SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown is open Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm and is located at 422 W. Guadalupe at Republic Square Park. The SFC Farmers’ Market at Sunset Valley is also open Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm. It is just east of 290 and Brodie Lane, at the Toney Burger Center (3200 Jones Road). The SFC Farmers’ Market at The Triangle is open now from 3 pm to 7 pm, at 4600 Guadalupe, near the 46th Street intersection at Lamar. All markets are open year-round and are free, with plenty of free parking.

SFC is prepared to carry out our mission of cultivating a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food.  SFC institutes a number of educational and accessible programs at the organization’s markets, including the SNAP Lone Star program, Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program coupons for fruits and vegetables during the summertime, farmers’ product tasting tent, chef’s demos, gardening workshops, etc.  SFC is a local 501 (c)(3) non-profit and has been involved in the community of growing food for more than 35 years.

Find out more about SFC’s family of farmers’ markets and programs at www.sfcfarmersmarket.org and www.sustainablefoodcenter.org .

The SFC Farmers’ Market is the largest certified growers-only farmers market in the state of Texas with more than 120 vendors. The certification from the Texas Certified Farmers Market Corporation requires that 51% or more of the vendor base consists of farmers. In 2010, the Saturday market Downtown is expected to generate estimated sales of $1.7 million, and have more than 142,000 visits.
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Susan Leibrock
Community Relations Director
512-236-0074 ext. 111
 
Suzanne Santos
SFC Farmers’ Market Director
512-236-0074 ext. 101