As summer marches on the market just keeps getting better. The organizers are learning as they go, the community is discovering how best to take advantage of what the market has to offer, and the vendors are learning what the community needs and wants. We shared with you the Norcross Community Market after the second Saturday and you can read that here. Follow the market’s Facebook page to keep up.
Several of the vendors are now including fresh flowers. Not only do visitors love to take flowers home with their other purchases, but it adds so much to the whole “look” of the market.
We’re happy to share a few special market “stories” here today.
Cooking Demonstrations at the Community Market
Most weeks the market has featured a “chef” type demonstration from local restaurants and one “celebrity” chef. See the previous story. Recently a Norcross favorite, The Crossing, hosted a demonstration. A previous post highlights all the restaurants of Historic Norcross.
The Crossing name honors the town’s roots. It was founded as a railroad town in the late 1800’s. An early post with lots of Norcross history is here.
Each week there has been another demonstration sponsored by the organization Cooking Matters.
Their focus is helping people learn to shop and cook nutritious meals on a budget. They go into communities and lead a series of classes, always concentrating on what is fresh and available at any given time.
Sabor a Chispas
The Norcross Police Department, in partnership with Sustainable Norcross, sponsored a class in Spanish for ServSafe, a food safety handling certification. These two ladies, Nancy Cal y Mayo and Antonia Perez, received the certification and are vendors at the market, serving Mexican Street Corn and Aguas frescas (deliciously fruity “fresh waters”).
The town of Norcross is a very diverse community, with a large Hispanic population. The Community Market has a goal of involving people of all backgrounds as vendors as well as shoppers. What a great concept to have everyone learning from each other, trying out new foods and drinks, and being engaged together as one community, while still maintaining individuality and honoring our heritage.
WSB TV-2 Atlanta just aired a story on Police Department involvement in their communities and Nancy and Antonia were interviewed. View the full story here.
A second ServSafe class was recently offered in Spanish and brings the promise of more community members following in the footsteps of these ladies, at the Community Market and the Gateway International Food & Music Festival, coming September 17th.
Learning How to Make a Difference
These young girls are Summerour Middle School students and are also a part of the Spanish-speaking segment of the Norcross community. With the guidance of Karla Blaginin, Market Evaluation Analyst for the market, they are learning a valuable lesson in working to make a difference.
Unhappy with the food offered in their school cafeteria, and armed with data they have gathered from fellow students, they are presenting actual measurements of food waste.
They want to see fresher, healthier options offered and suggest Mexican Fruit Cups as a good alternative. Market visitors are given the opportunity to try this delicious, fresh, chile-seasoned fruit, along with a chance to sign a petition in support of this effort.
And now, feast your eyes on some of the fresh fruits and vegetables offered by vendors at the Market.
For Additional Information, including Volunteer Opportunities:
Gateway International Food & Music Festival
Related Posts on Biscuits & Burlap
Restaurants of Historic Norcross
Walking Tour of Historic Homes in Norcross (South Tour)
Walking Tour of Historic Homes in Norcross (North Tour)
Our Journey to Adopt Norcross (with lots of town history)
The post Norcross Community Market Gets Better & Better appeared first on Biscuits & Burlap.