Have you ever walked into your local grocery store or taken a Sunday stroll through a bustling market and wondered just how far all of those items have travelled? Your bananas, likely from Ecuador, the mango you just bought, likely from India, the rice you want for your stir fry, yes it also was possibly made in China. It seems as though in developed nations such as the United States, long past are the times when we would go shopping and only find things that have been locally grown. Well, nearby to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace and where the Haymarket pushcart vendors gather, a location right next to the Rose Kennedy Greenway is being proposed as a market that will only sell items cultivated in the State of Massachusetts!
With that said, clearly oranges and other foods that are commonly seen in a market will not be featured, at least not all year long for the most part. There are worries that this market will be heavily restricted, especially in the winter months as growing food products in Massachusetts during that time is rather difficult to sustain. Despite this, fisherman, specialty food makers and farmers nonetheless are on board with the idea. A main reason for this is because there is a serious belief that locals like to support these neighboring individuals and be proud of the quality of products their State puts out to market. Greenhouses, fish farms and other strategic ways can be used in the slower seasons to still have a bounty of delicious goods for the public to enjoy.
There is a building whose ground floor will be used for the market at the location mentioned above. The commissioner of agriculture, Scott Soares, is pushing this project to companies and groups interested in developing and thereafter operating the market as a business once completed. This completion date at the earliest possible time is looking to be in the summer of 2012. A commission put together by the State will field bids from the various groups and companies and will come to a conclusion on what direction the market will ultimately be headed in March.
Once the winning bid has been determined in March, there will be $4 million dollars that the State is putting aside to aid in the design and building aspects of the grounds. The building itself is expected to go through a $8.5 million dollar development full of improvements and renovations. Perhaps, as some restaurateurs have noted, it would be better to have products from all of New England in order to have a more diverse and sustainable inventory. However, at least for the beginning and early future of this market, Massachusetts will be the star, and we are immensely excited about it!
