4MRMarket Report: "Keep it Local" Edition

With the market season now in full swing, we invite all of you that haven't yet stopped by this season to keep it local. Who knows where the produce you buy from your grocery stores comes from, and we guarantee supermarket beef isn't nearly as good as the grass-fed variety that reminds you what it's supposed to taste like. Nor are the grocery store eggs half as good as ones from happy pasture-raised, heritage breed chickens.  Do you ever bite into a 3 day-old muffin and wished you'd saved the calories for something more worthwhile?  Well, we have the cure for what ails you.

Come out and enjoy the fresh, local produce, baked goods, grass-fed beef, heritage chicken eggs, and a host of other goodies.  Here is who you'll find at 4MRMarket this Sunday:

• The Stifler Beef Farm aka "What's For Dinner Now" (Shenandoah) - Natural, locally farm-raised black Angus beef (flash frozen for convenience).
• Pleitez Produce (Northern Neck) - A full range of locally grown produce, herbs, and more.
• Herban Avenues at AHHA Ranch (Lovettsville, VA) - Herbal remedies, heritage breed chicken eggs, and a variety of herbs.
• Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, VA) - Organic value added products plus baked goods, fresh lemonade, and more.
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria) - A range of baked goods.
• Roberto's Produce (Northern Neck) - Locally grown produce and potted plants.
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Brewed coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).
• Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA)

4MRMarket features a few products for you each week to keep you aware of all the great things you can get at the market.  Here are this week's featured selections:

Patowmack Farms offers some excellent goodies for Mom or whoever you know with a sweet-tooth. "Patowmach Crunch" is English toffee coated in chocolate and dipped in crushed almonds. Their "Chocolate Caramel Tart" is soft caramel beneath a layer of chocolate ganache in a tart shell garnished with 23K gold leaf. 

Herban Avenues at AHHA Farms brings herbal remedies, including some great natural remedies for mosquito bites and poison ivy from herbalist and owner, Laura Davimes.

Remember, 4MRMarket now welcome EBT/SNAP (formerly food stamps), plus we double your dollars for the first $10 of market purchases (charge $10, get $20 to spend)!  Last week, we piloted the program to great success. This week, please spread the word to anyone you may know that is enrolled in EBT/SNAP!

Please support your volunteer-run neighborhood farmers market.  We can't do it without neighborhood support!  Also, volunteers are always welcome to help find musicians to play the market and to help book the community tent with City agencies, non-profits, etc.

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The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

4MRMarket is open every Sunday from 8am until 1pm from May through October in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. 

(click here for directions)

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/

Or contact us at: 4mrm@arlandria.org