During our son’s four years at Lyon College in Batesville, AR, we passed through Little Rock often. And pass through is all we did. Yet, each time we were heading south we would see the Riverfront Market and each time we said, we want to go there. It took us eighteen years but we finally visited and shopped at the Riverfront Market.
Riverfront Market is now home to the Little Rock Farmers Market which began in 1974. The Saturday we shopped, the market was bustling with both vendors and shoppers. The market was large but not varied; most vendors offered vegetables. As both locavores and farmers market junkies, we are dedicated to the idea of purchasing produce from the farmer who raised our food.
Greens
Our shopping plan is usually to walk the market to see what is offered and then decide what to purchase and from whom. As we walked we questioned whether some of the produce was farm to market. Then we noticed avocados and we don’t think Arkansas raises avocados. This erodes your confidence in the legitimate farmers to guess at the authenticity of each. After that we became even more selective with our purchases.
One of our best finds was Kent Walker Cheese. This is a local cheese company in Little Rock and the cheese melts in your mouth. Our purchases were Garlic Montasio, a cow’s milk cheese, and Goat Feta. We enjoyed using both on various dishes.
Kent Walker Cheese
We also purchased Arkansas peaches, tomatoes and fresh bread.
We enjoyed our first shop at the Riverfront Market. It just was not what we expected. Sometimes anticipation just doesn’t live up to reality. Little Rock really needs to police their market if they want to position it as a ‘farmers market’ and not simply as a group of food vendors selling produce on a Saturday morning. Just our opinion.
Bread
Fruits and Veggies
Melons
Cheese Man
Shoppers
