Market/Kitchen Notes

At our annual organizational meeting for the Farmer's Market today, I got asked unexpectedly to provide input on what people need to know about equipping a commercial kitchen. I surprised myself by advocating for anyone on a building committee involving construction of new kitchen facilities to make sure the necessary features are built in. I even stuck my neck out so far as to say that it's unconscionable not to do the few extra things it takes to make a kitchen certifiable for preparation of food that is to be sold. This would make it possible for someone who wishes to sell a processed food item to make the necessary preparations in a church kitchen and sell it legally to consumers. Even for fund-raising food events, a certified kitchen is technically required. Usually this requirement is not enforced, however.

I think I've referred to some of these things before, but here goes again.

Here are the things you need to have in a kitchen--beyond the normal and expected things--if you want a kitchen to be certified (Disclaimer: Some variation in local laws is possible) :

1. A three-sectioned sink (to allow for dishes to go through a sanitizing solution after washing and rinsing)

2. A floor drain (to dispose of mop water without the temptation of pouring it into a sink used for food prep)

3. A separate hand washing sink (so as not to mix germs from hands with food preparation areas)

4. An entrance directly into the kitchen area from the outside (so as not to schlep food items through areas that might introduce contamination)

5. A separate storage room for supplies and extra equipment (Not sure of the logic here.)

Last year a lot of vendors of Mexican foods had to stop coming to the market because they did not have access to commercial kitchens for food preparation. We missed them, and revenues for the market were down this year--partly also because it was a year when produce growers struggled because of the incessant heat and drought.

Sales amounted to a quarter of a million dollars. On one market day, about 3,000 customers passed through the building. The last week in July and the first week in August were the highest volume days for market sales--about $15,000.00 on one day.

In 2012, the midweek market will be on Wednesday from 10:00-2:00--different hours than before, and a very welcome change to a cooler time of day. Last year it was from 11:00-3:30.

For the first time ever--in 27 years, no one from the Amish-Mennonite community is on the market board.

We all agreed that the weekly 1/2 hour radio program every Saturday morning was a great way to get customers to the market, even though many of us felt like rank amateurs while we were on the air--often impromptu.

Our market is the only covered market in Kansas--a gift many years ago from the Ontjes family, who used to own the downtown Pegues store.

Someone noted today that a lot of the "saving money" advice columns advocate going to farmer's markets near the end of the market day when people are willing to sell food cheap because they don't want to take it home. Not at our market. Most of us have families or friends who can use extra produce, and we all agree that if we start selling things cheap at the end of every market day, we will inadvertently train people to show up only at that time, and we won't be able to make enough money to stay in business.

As always, the annual meeting is a great "feel good" event--the only time in the year when vendors actually have nothing more pressing to do than to sit down to talk. During the market season, usually conversation happens in between waiting on customers or getting set up to sell. If you're local, stop in to see us next summer. If you're not, find a farmer's market near you and patronize it as much as you can. It's one way of loving your neighbor as yourself.