Downtown Farmers Market

Boston has Faneuil Hall. New York City has rooftop gardens. Mayor Carolyn Goodman said Thursday morning that she’d like to see Las Vegas emulate both those efforts here. And while she didn’t exactly call for an Alice Waters-style school gardening program, she emphasized the inclusion of students in the Downtown FEED Farmers Market in Azul behind El Cortez.

Mostly, she said she wants to see the indoor Thursday market, which opened this summer and features more than 20 growers, become a daily event and be expanded to include jewelry, T-shirts, arts and crafts.

“Faneuil Hall is the concept," she said, referring to Boston's touristy shopping and dining area. "That’s what I envision. Everything starts small. This is going to get bigger and better."

Goodman and City Manager Betsy Fretwell had walked from City Hall to the market that morning for the new ritual squash-smashing event. Both in aprons, and standing on the small stage where harpist Kathy Kavanaugh had been performing, they assaulted three squashes to great applause from buyers milling about the fresh carrots, egg plants, zucchini, herbs and peppers.

Goodman also called on Project Dinner Table’s founder, Gina Gavan, to step forward as an example of what one looks like when one eats fresh and healthy food, whether from a Farmers Market or homegrown on a rooftop.

Growers selling at the event included Gilcrease Orchard, Herbs By Diane, Colorado River Roasters and Pahrump Garlic. Jesse Scott from Buckhorn Ranch in Alamo said that the Downtown FEED Farmers Market is only one of two in the Las Vegas metropolitan area that he participates in, while a businessman grabbed a few heirloom tomatoes and a couple of bags of cherry tomatoes.

Goodman said that she would like students from schools to be bused in, not just to expose them to organic fresh food, but to introduce them to a different type of vocation.”

Additionally, she added, the market's location off U.S. 95 and I-15 makes it accessible for visitors from Arizona and drivers traveling between California to Utah. “It’s a whole new industry in itself. I see nothing but positive growth. Every great city needs a Farmers Market. It’s good health food. It’s food we’re growing for ourselves and good instruction for young people.”

Seventeen percent of Thursday’s proceeds went to Downtown’s Studio 8 Ten, a nonprofit art studio and gift shop on Las Vegas Boulevard that employs and features the work of artists with disabilities.