Jane Goes to Eastern Market: August 30

Went to Eastern Market on Saturday. Not much of a field trip, since my husband or I go there each week to buy home made bread, cheese from the surly cheese guy, fresh vegetables from various vendors and meat from a butcher—the kind who will take the bones out of your meat, slice off the fat—or give you some fat back for your brisket.

In the summer months there are an abundance of farmers or produce hawkers who buy straight from the farmers. The mustached man on the corner has an outdoor tent above his produce—and usually a big line. I like his area because all the produce is marked with its name and where it’s from, so I don’t have to bug him constantly asking where some item is from. I bought potatoes and onions from Pennsylvania, eggplant from Maryland and peaches from West Virginia.

It’s interesting to watch the “tourists” who visit Eastern Market gawk at the food and happenings. Although the produce from the outside table vendors is usually cheaper than the stands inside, I see many people go inside for produce. I think people are somehow wary of the outside vendors. As if, since they don’t have a real booth, they’re not legitimate—but really they are more so. If anything, the outside vendors usually are closer to the people who grow it—either they grew it themselves or bought it straight from the farmer around the DC region. I wonder if they’re not so ingrained in purchasing produce from grocery stores that it’s more natural for them to go inside.

This Saturday at the mustached man’s area, I was surprised to see a sign above a bunch of tomatoes that said, “As seen on TV.”

“As seen on TV,” is a tagline I equate with goofy products no one needs, yet tomatoes—fresh, red, ripe tomatoes—where would we be without them? Mozzarella would be lonely and a BLT sandwich would be…well, just a BL.

Unfortunately I forgot to ask the mustached man about them. Do they have their own reality show? Was this just a ploy to get the tourists to purchase them? We’ll have to wait to find out on another weekend.