Oct. 15, 2002
Serving Up Freshness
Students Organize First Farmers Market, Open for Business
Oct. 23
By Thomas
Kohout
Just in time for the height of the harvest season, GW students will
have a cornucopia of fresh produce, baked goods, and handicrafts available
to them just steps from their doors, all thanks to the efforts of senior
Josh Singer and an unplanned trip to a New York City farmers market.
While visiting relatives over spring break last year, Singer stumbled
upon a market just blocks from his cousins apartment.
I thought, Wow this is really cool, recalls
Singer, a suburban kid from Boca Raton, FL, where the farmers market
concept is far from commonplace. They had all of these great fruits
and vegetables, and all this other crazy stuff right in the middle of
the city. It was really impressive. It took up a whole block, and vendors
showed up, they set it up, and then they left.
Marveling at the volume, variety, and overall quality available to market-goers,
Singers thoughts turned to his erstwhile Washington, DC, home
which he believes is under-served by grocery stores and produce markets.
At that moment the seeds of the GW farmers market, and the concept of
Building Community Through Food began to sprout.
When I came back to GW
I started thinking, Why dont we have anything like that?
says Singer.
The Columbian College student, who served as president of the Student
Body Senate in 200102 and as vice president for judicial and legislative
affairs on the Senate in 200001, turned first to his former colleagues
on the Student Association, the Residence Hall Association, and other
groups from across campus for support and assistance. Singer received
a budget of $1,000 from the Senate, as well as a lot of enthusiastic
helpers. Over the summer they met several times to determine what types
of items they would like, how they would like to see the market run,
and explore the many area markets that dot the DC metro region. Singer
says he scouted their policies and procedures basically how one
actually starts a farmers market.
I visited markets Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan,
Eastern Market and I walked around filling a satchel case of
information, just walking around talking to farmers and vendors,
says Singer.
From that research Singer and his troupe developed a comprehensive handbook
for the potential market, setting rates and regulations for everything
from hours of operation and signage to space reservations and restroom
access. The elements that dominated were product quality, product price,
and an affordable rate for vendor space.
I want to make this as attractive for them as possible,
explains Singer. I want them to sell as much as they can, and
I want them to come back, which is why I have had such an amazing response
from every market Ive been to.
With the basics worked out, Singer turned to the University for advice
and support. He wrote a letter to President Trachtenberg detailing his
plan for the market and received backing of the Presidents Office.
This is really a testament to the enterprising, entrepreneurial
spirit of GWs students, says President Trachtenberg. Who
would have thought to bring a farmers market to a college campus?
But this is exactly the kind of community-building activity I had in
mind when we were drawing up plans for Kogan Plaza and the Mid-Campus
Quad.
Trachtenberg quickly adds, I just hope Josh can find someone who
sells reasonably priced antique cigar cutters.
Singers next step was to survey the regulatory requirements of
hosting a farmers market. Finding the permit process a muddied field,
he quickly turned to the Office of Government, International, and Corporate
Affairs.
I wanted to know what the permit requirements were, Singer
recalls. I called Richard Sawaya and Bernard Demczuk and I said,
Can you guys look into this, because I looked at the District
governments Web site and I couldnt understand any of it.
Its justifiable confusion, according to Demczuk, assistant vice
president for District of Columbia government affairs. Beyond individual
vendor licenses and regulations surrounding food preparation, nobody
is sure what permits are required. In fact it wasnt until Oct.
7 that Singer had all of the necessary permits in hand.
The fact of the matter is this is such a novel idea to
host a farmers market in the middle of a university nobody from
the Mayors Office to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory
Affairs is sure what permit is necessary, whether a permit is necessary,
or even if there is a precedent to follow. Im not aware of this
kind of thing having ever been done in the District before, says
Demczuk.
The GW farmers market will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 10 am4
pm, just in time for Halloween. A tentative date of Wednesday, Nov.
20 is being considered for a second market.
We chose Wednesdays because thats when the largest number
of students, faculty, and staff are on campus. says Singer. We
want to sell quality items that students can enjoy, but our demographic
is not just students, its faculty, its staff, and its
neighbors. The goal is provide a service that has never been offered
before.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu