Market day

Here in Montreal, we aren't lucky enough to have a Whole Foods. I know as I write this that Whole Foods has faced criticism, but I wish we had the option of a large grocery store chain that fills the organic niche. (I suspect the reason we don't have a Whole Foods, is because of Quebec's language laws, but that's a whole other post.) What we have instead is a handfull of smaller organic stores, with huge mark-ups, and conventional grocery stores that carry some organic foods.

We also have a pop-up organic market, the Marché Fermier, close to our home. Every Sunday and Thursday, all through the summer and right up until mid-October, local producers set up their stalls on a "green street" nearby.

The market is a project of a non-profit organisation called La Maison de l'Amitié. In the few short years it has been around, the market has carved out a place for itself in Mile End. I'm sure some of this has to do with the Sunday afternoon concerts, and the little contests (a recent example was a multiple-choice question about the number of varieties of plums grown around the world.) But it's also just really laid-back and friendly. Oh yeah, and there's the food.



There aren't too many market days left before the cold weather sets in. Already, I know we're going to miss the food we've been enjoying from the market. And we'll miss the market itself. While I'd love to have the year-round selection of organic foods available at a place like Whole Foods, I know it couldn't replace this market.