where michelle obama shops

this is not a particularly well-guarded cross walk (which actually wouldn't be a bad idea in this country where pedestrians on the zebra stripes are often fair game) but the coned-off white house farmers' market.

i was too late to witness the opening of the currently most prominent farmers' market in dc on september 17, 2009 by michelle obama. but my first day of work fell on a thursday, the only day "michelle obama's market" is open.

"for those of us who are battling the time crunch and for those of us for whom access to fresh food is an issue in our neighborhood, farmers' markets are a really important, valuable resource that we have to support"

-- michelle obama quoted on the opening page of freshfarm markets

apart from crates of seasonal hotties such as apples, bell peppers, tomatoes, and squash this valuable resource included some pretty interesting items, that -- i assume -- washingtonians need on a daily or at least weekly basis:


















bison meat, i just learnt last night from a nice ogalala lakota sioux native american from the pine ridge reservation in south dakota, is very tasty (whereas buffalo, she said, is not as good -- thanks god, they had the right kind at the market). CORRECTION: I talked to her again about the bison-buffalo definition and I misunderstood her. She said that bison and buffalo are the same. See more about the bison-buffalo confusion in the comment section below. I apologize for the mistake.


















for every season there's a breed-specific wool.













if you run out of your staple organic long-grain brown rice or organic twelve-grain healthy harvest pasta, there are always purple blossoms, right?!















not to mention the politically correct snack for the fair-haired ones among us after all the discrimination in favor of brunettes.












back to focusing on the essentials. i was happy to see a vegetable part that in the united states is neglected in its cuisine and thus hard to find. whereas in germany lightly green crunchy celery sticks are a rarity, celery root is the base for every soup that my mom makes. celery root is a supermarket staple that comes rubber-banded together with a carrot and a bunch of parsley, called "soup green" [Suppengrün].

kohlrabi, another favorite vegetable i like to hunt for at markets, wasn't offered at any of the roughly twenty booths. but another surprise was waiting.














from grass-fed beef it's just a non sequitur to grass-fed produced milk, yogurt, cheese, and to my great surprise also













quark! -- which was defined as "German style cheese". (i still don't think it is cheese but its own category) i tasted the first two kinds of the yellowish smooth creams in the try-out bins. they came pretty close but comparison was hard because my taste buds unfortunately only know the commercial kind.

good training for any tongue was certainly provided at this market where big plates of gala, jona gold, tomato, and pear slices invited to nibbling. combine it with mini spoonfuls of cream cheese, dips, pesto, and sips of milk out of thimble-sized paper cups and you have, what my favorite american would call, a yuppie little snack.

we know that michelle obama bought kale [Grünkohl], fingerling potatoes, and milk chocolate (!) at the market.

with my tight budget fainting just seeing the prices but giving in to the exciting occasion i ended up purchasing two small bell peppers, two tomatoes, and my favorite prey: an eighth of a pound of orange and yellow nasturtium [Kapuzinerkresse] blossoms mixed with two types of arugula.

it was refreshing to find several booths to offer arugula, which is pretty common in germany but rare enough on this side of the ocean that it became a symbol in a debate about barack obama's alleged eliteness during his presidential campaign. and then there was more than one kind of arugula, nutty-flavored leaves, a frizzly looking green...oh, the possibilities at the farmers' markets! (if you have the other kind of green to pay)

* * *

the white house farmers' market in a nutshell:

what?
the farmer's market at the white house is one of nine farmers' markets under the umbrella of freshfarm markets in the dc area, and the fifth to open in the city.

where?
a stone's throw from the white house and fayette park in a block at 810 vermont avenue between h and i streets in the northwestern quadrant of washington dc

when?
september 17 to october 29, 2009
3 to 7 p.m.

want to read more?

Instead of Traffic, Fresh Tomatoes -- Washington Post, Sept. 18, 2009
Some people complained about traffic problems because of the four hours per week blocking of one block. As one person is quoted in the Post: "You shut down for sporting events all the time. Why not for something that can really help people?"

Farmers' Market Near White House Is Approved -- NYTimes Blog The Caucus, Sept. 10, 2009
Originally the market was supposed to be even closer to the White House.