The Farmers Market Dresses Up

Folks, I have to tell you about Saturday night.

I attended the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute’s Annual Fall Fiesta fundraising gala, dolled up and accompanied by my (proud) mother, my friend Elyzabeth, and my aptly-named financial advisor, Rich. Not only were we clean and prettied-up, but our Farmers Market building was too--with colorful, festive lights strung from the ceiling, a live band playing gentle country music, and long formal dinner tables. There was a silent auction of goods ranging from handmade clay salad bowls, to organic 50lb sacks of goat feed, to gift baskets of soaps and lotions (of course)—with a mountain bike and dinners-for-two thrown into the mix as well.

We had a stunning dinner featuring local root veggies, lamb, polenta and over-the-top-rich mac & cheese, followed by local desserts—my favorite of which was a goat cheesecake. The food was prepared by a variety of local chefs.

Dinner was followed by a live auction that was so entertaining--dramatic and hilarious--I felt like I was at the theater. And let me just say right here that there was a lot of money flying around the room, and that our wonderful community truly loves and supports our market and its farmers. The live auction started with an auction of a dozen eggs--sold for $200!

The featured guests were Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson--read all about them if you can’t remember their incredible story. Somehow or other, they decided to relocate to our humble Southwest town, and now I was sitting just down the table from their gutsy-selves. Joe told a hysterical story about being attacked by a rooster when he was in Niger (you know, THAT Niger)—that laid him up for several days. He declared that farming was dangerous business, and he was grateful that we had such dedicated farmers to do this dangerous work on our behalf. The irony of this statement (his wife was an under-cover CIA operative, remember? And he took on the Bush administration single-handedly, to some serious consequences) was not lost on this audience. And Valerie is just as stunning in person as she was testifying before Congress.

Just after dessert was served (note: Rich did not try the goat cheesecake as he declared “I hate everything goat.” I’m sorry, what??? You’re fired!), the “heartfelt” part of the evening began, as Sarah Noss, Institute Director, hosted the Farmers Market All-Star Awards portion of the evening—our equivalent of the Oscars. Yours truly was the first award recipient, and I must say, I wasn’t prepared for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the dedication—including a continuous slide show of images of me, my goats, my products, my farm, etc. Wow! It was truly an honor. I still feel like a newbie at the Market (and compared with two other award recipients I very much am). I was able to say a few words of thanks, and I let that crowd of donors and supporters know that my business wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the incredible entrepreneurial platform of the Santa Fe Farmers Market, one that encourages not only business growth in general, but a certain set of business values—local, fair, community-based, natural, real, connection with the land, with the seasons, with each other. These values provide a brilliant challenge for a business-one that pushes products to be better than what you find in the average market place. Thank you, Santa Fe Farmers Market.

My fellow Oscar—I mean All-Star winners were Tony and Helen Zamora of Zamora's Produce, who have been with the Market for like, 30 years, and Gary and Natasya Gundersen of Mr. G's Organic Produce. Gary, said, quotably, that "All the farmers at the Santa Fe Farmers Market are all-stars."