At 09:05 AM 10/11/2008 -0700, George Frantz wrote, in part: > Why assume the continued dependence on the WalMart/Wegman's centralized > procurement/distribution system model? > >There are a number of cities in Pennsylvania that have since colonial >times operated publicly-owned central markets where individual stalls are >leased to small-time local producers of food and and fiber. ....rest >deleted......
Dear George and Colleages--This a great idea. In fact, once upon a time, when I first came to Ithaca the old Rothchild's Building had just been torn down and what was to become the Center Ithaca Building was a vacant lot covered with gravel. And what was to become the Ithaca Farmers' Market was held in the vacant lot. It had a festive atmosphere and attacted all sorts of folks to then new Commons that might not have wandered over there otherwise. Instead of building dozens of stalls for small farmers and crafts/cottage industry practitioners and the continence of what could have become a great tradition an architectural monstrosity was constructed instead that filled in what was a great open air space. And now the Farmers' Market is way far away from the downtown business district, requires a car to get to for many of us and draws business away from the downtown instead of helping to building it up. So we know the meaning of "retrograde" here in Ithaca. Tom ****************************************** Tom Shelley 118 E. Court St. Ithaca, NY 14850 607 342-0864 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion* What Does Zero Waste Mean? "If it cant be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production." Berkeley Zero Waste Resolution See http://www.cityofberkeley.info/council8/newsletter.pdf *noun: a shoot or bud of a plant, esp. one for planting or grafting _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
