I'm hoping to catch up with Will "The Cheese Dude" Eaves, erstwhile partner in pairings.

2010 at The Cottage.

I'll spare you the lengthier prelude, but last week Calvin began plotting an excellent cheese and beer evening at Pints&union; one of his friends will be a cheesemonger at the cheese shop in the forthcoming Logan Street Market, and while tasting details are yet to come, the point to this digression is a fellow named Will Eaves.

I began scratching my head and thinking about the many years passed since I last crossed paths with Will, with whom I helped stage two, maybe three cheese and beer evenings during the halcyon period before NABC's Bank Street brewing project swallowed my life.

At the time Will was the cheesemonger at Lotsa Pasta, later taking a job at Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese -- and that's when the trail gets cold. It left me curious about what he's doing these days.

Sara Havens was not there and did not hear me explain all this to Calvin, but she promptly answered my question at Insider Louisville.

7 Questions With … Will Eaves, aka ‘The Cheese Dude’

Eaves works at Lotsa Pasta as a pasta maker and sales rep, and before that, he served as the store’s cheesemonger. In between those two positions, he left the company for three years to work for Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese as an affineur (a person who ages/ripens the cheese).

That's a "duh" moment for me. It's probably been a year since we shopped at Lotsa Pasta, solely because the shop's location lies outside our normal migratory patterns.

But the hell of it is that Will has been bringing Lotsa Pasta straight to us, and I haven't been paying attention.

If you’ve been to the New Albany Farmers Market, you’ve most likely met Eaves behind the Lotsa Pasta booth, schlepping everything from lasagna to gouda.

Double "duh".

Okay, so it's also been a while since we browsed the farmers market; perhaps once this year. Echoing Yogi Berra, no one (read: we) goes there any longer because it's too damn crowded.

Resolution: This coming Saturday we'll visit the farmers market and see if Will is there. Lotsa Pasta's muffaletta sandwich is a great favorite of mine, and evidently available at the farmers market according to the photo at IL.

Following are ancient links to previous exploits.

2010:

Will's and Roger's excellent beer and cheese pairing adventure at Campbell's Gourmet Cottage, Monday, January 11.

Recap: Will's and Roger's excellent beer and cheese pairing adventure.

2007:

Program for tonight's Merchant du Vin beer & cheese pairing in Prost.

2014:

How much lactose really is in cheese?

Just my luck I forgot the sunscreen.

I may be alone in this, but my favorite outdoor seating at a picnic table -- especially in warm weather -- is one directly in the sun just feet away from shade but within spitting distance of a dumpster.

No shade for the tables on the other side, either, sans dumpster access. Last week you could have fried a fresh organic egg on them. Today it wasn't as bad.

Does anyone have information about the food truck that's been parking at the Farmers Market on Wednesdays? Just curious.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Dogs caused the farmers market to jump the shark, according to germophobic jazz icon.

The Tom May Content Multiplier's "letters to the editor" section has become a shadow of its former entertaining self, and it's not entirely the fault of our chain newspaper's enduring absentee ownership.

These days, people barely capable of communicating in writing still manage to inflict their views on the general populace via various social media platforms, accompanied by memes someone else conjured. A reincarnated H.L. Mencken doubtless would observe that American civilization is regressing quite markedly toward reclaiming grunts and groans from its simian forebearers.

Like Greg Phipps, we've met the enemy, and he is us.

Speaking of animals, it seems the presence of dogs at New Albany's farmers market has single-handedly rejuvenated the newspaper's letters section.

Aug 5, 2018

New Albany Farmers Market 'gone to the dogs'

I love going to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and was there the morning of July 28. However, this morning was not a pleasant visit as there were more dogs than humans. In fact, you could barely walk through because of so many dogs and I almost tripped over a small dog. Who would be liable for an accident? I like dogs in their place and this is not their place. This is a food market not a dog market.

Carolyn Carter, New Albany

No one goes to the farmers market any more -- far too many people are there -- and it would seem that the balance of vendors long since has tilted to merchandise, arts and crafts rather than food, but I digress.

A similar canine complaint followed only three days later.

August 8

Farmers market is no place for animals

Last week at the Farmers Market I had just entered the food area off Market Street, which was very crowded. The next thing I know a dog licked my right hand and I didn’t even SEE the animal. My first thought was: They should not allow animals at this public place! I’m leery of dogs and this scared me. And now I see this article which has prompted me to write.

Also, animals around food that humans will be purchasing and eating does not sound healthy to me.

I think it would be much cleaner with just humans at the Farmers Market.

No animals.

— Jamey Aebersold

"Syncopated Germophobe" sounds like the name of a rock band, not jazz.

germ·o·phobe
ˈjərməˌfōb
noun
A person with an extreme fear of germs and an obsession with cleanliness.

Let's have a closer look at the saxophonist's link. I'm reminded of Frank Zappa's immortal album, Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

Doctors have been forced to amputate a man's legs and parts of his hands after he suffered sepsis believed to be caused by being licked by a dog ...

... A representative for the New York Animal Hospital told The Independent that it’s "extremely rare" for humans to become ill after contact with Capnocytophaga canimorsus, which was found in Mr Manteufel’s blood. In rare instances, the bacteria — which can be found in dog and cat saliva — may cause infections when it comes in contact with an open wound or burn, while the majority of Capnocytophaga canimorsus-related illnesses occur through dog bites.

In fact, there have only reportedly been 500 cases of sepsis caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus without a dog bite being found in the US and Canada since 1976.

Obviously it's no laughing matter to contract sepsis from a dog's lick, but on the other hand, probably more than 500 pianos have landed on American sidewalk strollers since 1976.

No smoking, no animals; Aebersold's "anti-" range pleasingly grows. My own pet peeve is Puritanism, which I think should be banned from all public gatherings like the farmers market, city council meetings and DNA-sponsored events.

Mencken's definition remains the standard in the English language.

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

However, lest the jazzman has forgotten, at times the shoe occupies the other foot, assuming it hasn't been amputated.

During the Cold War, jazz was still banned in some Eastern European countries for being subversive and decadent. Well into the 1980s, the underground clubs where it was performed in these countries provided meeting places for political dissidents.

What if no anchor-bedecked city officials were allowed at the farmers market? Then we'd be getting somewhere. Keep the dogs -- just remove the bottom-feeders.

Trash Force's Earth Day Celebration is Sat., April 28, at the Farmers Market.

This one's coming up in just two weeks.

"Living a healthy and sustainable life today requires knowledge. Small changes in your everyday life can make a huge impact. We at Trash Force and the New Albany Farmer's Market want to provide a forum on April 28 for the public to ask questions to learn about recycling, climate change, and preserving our air, water, and soil. We will have a kid's table too. Food, music, and A Plus Paper Shredding will be on hand to shred your sensitive documents from 9am to 11am."

Learn more at the Trash Force event page.

Louisville's Logan Street Market reminds us of downtown New Albany's missed market opportunity.

The advent of the Logan Street Market in Louisville (below; also reported at Insider Louisville) annoyingly recalls New Albany's discarded chance to construct a farmers market at a more suitable downtown location, and in conjunction with other food-related developments as part of a coherent overall plan.

(laugh track inserted here) 

City Hall had no such overall plan, and still doesn't, only piecemeal paybacks, but apart from this it isn't necessary to go any further than developer Matt Chalfant's forthcoming condo construction on the southeastern corner of Main and Bank.

A building like this should have been prioritized for the footprint now taken up by the farmers market. It still should. Infill and residency are more important, and the very concept of a farmers market lends itself to mobility. The farmers market might yet be moved to a location in need of an upgrade, as attached to a year-round concept just like ... well, the Logan Street Market.

But no, not in #HisNA. Beaks were wetted, envelopes exchanged, and an opportunity squandered. In other words, Gahanism 101.

First, the link to the Logan Street Market story at the CJ. Then, an NAC posting from 2015 that ties it together.

A 21st-century grocery model: Public market to open by summer in Shelby Park, by Bailey Loosemore (Louisville Courier Journal)

By summer, Louisville will once again be home to a year-round public market — thanks to two entrepreneurs and a $1-million investment.

The Logan Street Market, proposed by Mike and Medora Safai, will feature more than two dozen vendors selling locally sourced foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses.

It's expected both to fill a need in its surrounding neighborhoods and serve as a tourist attraction for Louisville as a whole.

Word of the market has been circulating since early 2017, with some questioning whether the project would ever come into existence. But many remaining doubts were quashed over the weekend when the Safais held a preview party at the market's proposed space in Shelby Park.

"Tonight, people are still asking me, 'Do you think it's really going to happen?'" Mike Safai said Saturday. "Would I spend all this money on this party if it wasn't going to happen?"

(Technically, public indoor markets have been around for centuries, with the most famous perhaps being the Pike Place Market in Seattle. In Louisville, the Haymarket existed on Jefferson Street in various renditions from 1891 to 2003.)

---

March 30, 2015

Jeff Gahan's quarter-million dollar farmers market fluff job commences this week.

And yet, Bank remains a one-way street, just like our politics.

Yes, every City Hall argument deployed in favoring the Coyle site development simultaneously argues AGAINST the farmers market build-out.

The build-out begins this week. By the way, it’s an election year.

From December, 2014, after the city did what is said it wouldn't ...

Farmers Market expenditure: Nash, Board of Works rubber stamp flat Duggins "wait" lie.

 ... here are ...

10 reasons why Jeff Gahan's quarter-million dollar farmers market fluff job is wrong for New Albany.

It squanders irreplaceable infill residential potential on what might be a signature downtown corner – at a time when City Hall insists that such infill is a priority.

As such, it offers yet another example of disjointed, congratulatory-plaque-ready “thinking” that does not adhere to a coherent, self-reinforcing master plan.

It blatantly contradicts City Hall’s publicly stated intent to wait for the Speck street study before making a decision.

It blatantly contradicts the city council’s publicly stated position in favor of waiting for the Speck street study.

It reinforces Jeff Gahan’s enduring (and increasing disturbing) contempt for pluralism and public discussion.

It provides yet another example of Jeff Gahan’s enduring (and increasingly disturbing) penchant for edicts as rubber-stamped through clandestine activity with appointed boards, as opposed to public votes taken by elected officials.

It plainly rewards the wrong merchants, given that any money given to farmers (and to most vendors) does not remain in the city.

It just as plainly reminds us that as yet, there is no coherent downtown economic development plan to reward the right merchants, namely the ones who have invested in downtown, rather than loaded a truck with tomatoes from Orange County.

It may not even reward Develop New Albany, which for its many terminal faults has managed to steward the farmers market successfully, but likely now will see the market come under the control of the city parks department.

As such, City Hall’s latest exculpatory explanation that $250,000 will buy a facility suitable for use not only as a farmers market, but also as a likely parks department-controlled venue for other events (a) once again points to the unsuitability of Bicentennial Park as a venue; (b) once again points to the ongoing neglect of the Riverfront Amphitheater; (c) once again is an inefficient use of city property better saved for infill; and (d) once again testifies to City Hall’s proclivity for scattershot political appeasement rather than coherent, interlinked progress.

Now, ten links.

Farmers Market expenditure: Nash, Board of Works rubber stamp flat Duggins "wait" lie.

Gahan now "open" to street changes in Speck study initiated by Gahan.

In which it is revealed that the farmers market expansion will be delayed a year pending further review.

Council and city hall in unison: "New Albany Farmers Market project not high on priority list."

Multitudinous farmers market. Zero permanent infrastructure.

Applying the Bloomington solution to New Albany's farmers market.

On the farmers market in Bloomington, and how smart things make us look dumb.

Mrs. Baird inadvertently reveals the crux of the $321K farmers market lotto: "There was not a lot of discussion about it."

The farmers market in Madison WI lacks facilities. No one goes there any longer because it's too crowded.

DNA can come out of the farmers market dust-up smelling like the proverbial rose. All it needs to do is follow this script.

Whether DNA gets a penny, $5,000 or $100,000 from City Hall, it is obliged to be transparent about its activities and expenditures.

As the usual suspects circle the customary wagons, let's be perfectly clear.

NAC isn't lobbing Molotov cocktails at Develop New Albany just for the sport of it. Rather, I believe there are topics worthy of airing, consideration and discussion, and the fact that so few others seem interested in them only makes me more determined to ask.

Just imagine a world where all the facts were readily available, without having to fight the gatekeepers for every scrap of information. At any rate, let's go all the way back to the beginning.

It doesn't matter whether DNA gets a penny, $5,000 or $100,000 from City Hall. The fact that DNA receives funding from City Hall obliges it to be transparent about its activities and expenditures, and to answer questions about these matters from taxpayers -- even when they don't belong to the organization.

Furthermore, whether DNA gets a penny, $5,000 or $100,000 from City Hall, the organization will forever be walking a thin line as it pertains to politics, and far from constituting an exemption from scrutiny, this places an even greater burden on DNA in terms of openness.

As defined by political scientist Harold Laswell, "Politics is who gets what, when, how." The plain fact is that Jeff Gahan (or any mayor) routinely makes political decisions, and although DNA just as routinely claims to refrain from politics by virtue of its non-profit status, these claims are hypocritical and spurious far more often than not.

This is why DNA's institutional culture must be driven by its unique program of work, as defined by National Main Street's Four Points. Only in this manner can DNA produce results that justify its existence, and help to insulate it from political interference.

Of course, DNA's principals must desire operational autonomy, as opposed to courting political interference. Consequently, it isn't without reason that today's Taco Walk bears a hard look, particularly given DNA's recent fondness for touting its own "signature events." This is because National Main Street has issues with this event-centered approach.

National Main Street hopes to correct certain errant conditions.

Many Main Street programs tend to focus too much time and effort on the components of the Main Street Approach where they may feel most comfortable, and where they can have the most visible impact in a short period of time – most often, Design and Promotion. As a result, many programs report that they struggle to be recognized as serious revitalization organizations and reach key revitalization benchmarks.

In short, event-planning has become the focus of many such organizations, and this can cause them to lose focus on the bigger picture. National Main Street is on it.

As has been the case in the past, Main Streets will be encouraged to engage a wide range of local stakeholders in developing a vision of success for their downtown or neighborhood commercial districts. Main Streets will then be urged to develop cross-cutting Community Transformation Strategies that are connected to meaningful, longterm change. Progress will be measured in a variety of ways, including through economic metrics and qualitative assessment.

I cannot emphasize the importance of downtown independent business owners taking a few minutes to read these two National Main Street documents, and to consider how useful they'd be if applied to New Albany.

1 The Main Street Approach

2 The Four Point Refresh: A Primer

It should be clear that DNA's choice of signature events is itself political -- who gets what, when, and how. Who plays, and who doesn't.

Let's all eat at Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on Saturday, August 12.

Moreover, such prioritization must be viewed in the context of opportunity costs. Devoting resources to one activity probably means depriving them from another. How is this or that decision made? If City Hall provides funding to DNA, then the organization needs to do a far better job communicating the decision-making process as to who gets what, when, and how.

A few years ago, when DNA actively and publicly lobbied for farmers market expenditures to expand and make permanent the market's current home, while simultaneously denying that doing so was in any way "political," the organization wasn't just being disingenuous to the point of hypocrisy.

It also was seeking to make impossible an in-depth community dialogue about whether the current location is appropriate for anchoring (pun intended) a sporadically used farmers market when the future infill redevelopment potential of the corner of Bank and Market is so considerable.

By working to forestall a credible discussion of other options, DNA was being as political as the term can possibly be, and an opportunity has been lost. Because of this and so many other examples, the very last comment we should be hearing from anyone affiliated with DNA is that it can't or won't answer questions like these two:

What's the current level of annual City Hall support for DNA?

Of the monies collected for the Taco Walk (for example: 400 buyers at $30 per ticket is a gross of $12,000), what's the percentage to be kept by DNA?

These are perfectly legitimate questions, aren't they?

My last survey of these issues came was last August. I'm guessing these links are still topical.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016
ON THE AVENUES: There has never been a better time for an Independent Business Alliance in New Albany.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016
ON THE AVENUES: DNA, National Main Street, the Four Points, and how it might yet be possible to get this thing right for once.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016
From 2011 and 2015: Regaining consciousness in a city “coming” to? Or, the infamous Come to City marketing fiasco of 2011.

Fresh Stop Market shifts to Sojourn Community Church for 2017.

Last year, the Fresh Stop market was held at the New Albany Housing Authority.

Learn more and get on board the Fresh Stop Market -- a “pop up” farm-fresh food market.

Fresh Stop Markets are “pop up” farm-fresh food markets set up at local churches, housing authorities, and community centers in fresh food insecure neighborhoods. People in the community describe Fresh Stop Markets as welcoming and happy-like a family reunion where all five senses are engaged and there is lots of laughter, food, and fun! Our Fresh Stop Markets are open to everyone and created, led, and sustained by community leaders.

In 2017, it looks as if the venue is being shifted. The market won't kick off until June, but planning is underway.

New Albany Fresh Stop Market

New Roots is excited to partner with Sojourn Community Church to welcome all of our neighbors from the Ekin Avenue Neighborhood and beyond to join in on this wonderful opportunity for fresh food for ALL!

A reminder: Biers on Parade, today, 2 - 6 p.m. at the Farmers Market.

The details:

Biers on Parade returns to the Farmers Market on Harvest Homecoming Parade Day (Saturday, October 1).

In even greater detail (Oct. 8, 2015):

ON THE AVENUES: There’s an indie twist to this curmudgeon’s annual Harvest Homecoming column.

Biers on Parade returns to the Farmers Market on Harvest Homecoming Parade Day (Saturday, October 1).

On Saturday, October 1, 2016, NARBA Presents:

Biers on Parade

A pop-up at the New Albany Farmers Market

Local beer and food at the Farmers Market (City Square), at the corner of Market and Bank in downtown New Albany, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 1.

The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) once again is partnering with the New Albany’s Farmers Market and Harvest Homecoming to stage Biers on Parade, a family-friendly food and drink showcase at the Farmers Market pavilion at the corner of Market and Bank Streets on Saturday, October 1.

Biers on Parade coincides with the Harvest Homecoming Parade through downtown New Albany. The Farmers Market will operate from 8:00 a.m. to around 1:00 p.m. on October 1, then Biers on Parade will set up shop. Food, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks will be available from 2:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m.

Biers on Parade offers beer brewed by all three of our city’s breweries: New Albanian Brewing Company, Donum Dei Brewery and Floyd County Brewing Company.

There’ll also be food prepared by Taco Steve, Chef Walker BBQ, Mama’s Kitchen and Boston Joe’s Lobster Rolls, as well as wine from River City Winery.

Proceeds benefit NARBA and Harvest Homecoming’s selected charities. NARBA is applying for non-profit status as a 501(c)6 professional trade group:

The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit trade organization serving the independent restaurant, bar and on-premise food and drink industry in New Albany, Indiana. NARBA serves as the unified voice of its members on government and public relations issues. It also provides programs that offer educational and operational benefits for members. NARBA represents New Albany’s best known and most vibrant local independent business segment, and is dedicated to the advancement and preservation of New Albany as an urban community.

Harvest Homecoming’s booth days in downtown New Albany begin on Thursday, October 6 and run through Sunday, October 9. For more information:
www.harvesthomecoming.com

Oct. 1: Biers on Parade at New Albany City Square
Oct. 1: Harvest Homecoming Parade
Oct. 6 – Oct. 9: Harvest Homecoming Booth Days

The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association presents Biers on Parade, at the Farmers Market on Saturday, October 3.

The press release will be going out this week. Here's an advance preview.

---

NEWS FROM: The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2015

CONTACT:   Roger A. Baylor

Secretary

NARBA

(502) 468-9710

roger@newalbanian.com

On Saturday, October 3, 2015, NARBA Presents:

Biers on Parade

At the New Albany Farmers Market

Local beer, fine food and melodies at the Farmers Market (City Square), at the corner of Market and Bank in downtown New Albany, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 3.

The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) is partnering with New Albany’s Farmers Market to stage Biers on Parade, a family-friendly food and drink showcase at the newly remodeled Farmers Market pavilion at the corner of Market and Bank on Saturday, October 3.

Biers on Parade coincides with the Harvest Homecoming Parade through downtown New Albany, and also will conclude New Albany Independent Restaurant Week.

The Farmers Market will operate from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on October 3.

NARBA member businesses will be selling food, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks from 1:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m.

Biers on Parade will offer the first-ever opportunity for patrons to choose from a lineup that includes beers brewed by all three of our city’s breweries: New Albanian Brewing Company, Donum Dei Brewery and the newest, Floyd County Brewing Company.

There’ll also be food prepared by Big Four Burgers + Beer, Feast BBQ and The Exchange, and wine from River City Winery. Other participants TBA.

Proceeds benefit NARBA and Harvest Homecoming’s selected charities. NARBA is applying for non-profit status as a 501(c)6 professional trade group:

The New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit trade organization serving the independent restaurant, bar and on-premise food and drink industry in New Albany, Indiana. NARBA serves as the unified voice of its members on government and public relations issues. It also provides programs that offer educational and operational benefits for members. NARBA represents New Albany’s best known and most vibrant local independent business segment, and is dedicated to the advancement and preservation of New Albany as an urban community.

NARBA’s Biers on Parade is the final event during a week devoted to independent local businesses in New Albany.

New Albany Indie Fest takes place on Sunday, September 27. It’s “a local arts festival including artist booths, amazing music, food, drink, children's area & more! Located at Main & Bank Street in front of the new Underground Station.”

https://www.facebook.com/events/738734362898584/

September 28 – October 3 is the inaugural New Albany Independent Restaurant Week. New Albany is Louisville’s most flavorful borough, and our locally-owned restaurant and bar operators will be running promotions and holding special events throughout the week. Visit NARBA’s page at Facebook for more:

https://www.facebook.com/DineNewAlbany

Harvest Homecoming’s booth days in downtown New Albany begin on Thursday, October 8 and run through Sunday, October 11. For more information:

www.harvesthomecoming.com

Sept. 27: New Albany Indie Fest

Sept. 28 – Oct. 3: New Albany Independent Restaurant Week

Oct. 3: Biers on Parade at New Albany City Square

Oct. 3: Harvest Homecoming Parade

Oct. 8 – Oct. 11: Harvest Homecoming Booth Days

###

"Do you REALLY know where your farmers' market produce comes from?"

Groan, redux.

Here in a bit, I'll walk downtown for the weekly purchase of tomatoes at our farmers market. I like to buy the misshapen, dirty and slightly unripened ones. It's just a quirk, I suppose.

Frequent readers will recall many blog posts on the topic of farmers market infrastructure and location, as here.

Jeff Gahan's quarter-million dollar farmers market fluff job commences this week. (March 30)

Yes, every City Hall argument deployed in favor of the Coyle site development simultaneously argues AGAINST the farmers market build-out. The build-out begins this week. By the way, it’s an election year.

On two separate occasions this summer, I've been asked a variant of the same question: Is there any standard, or regulation determining whether the food sold at the farmers market actually is grown by the seller, or came from another secondary source?

In short, is the food really what they say it is?

I don't know the answer to this question, although it isn't unique to New Albany, and is discussed in greater detail here.

Do you REALLY know where your farmers' market produce comes from?, by Katherine Martinko (Treehugger)

Every market has its own set of regulations. In New York City, most of the major farmers’ markets are run by a non-profit organization called GrowNYC, which ensures that markets are producer-only. That means that vendors can only sell items that they’ve grown themselves; no reselling, even if clearly labeled, is allowed. As Modern Farmer reports, GrowNYC maintains its high standards by employing investigators who keep an eye on vendors, taking note of any suspicious things such as retail boxes, waxed fruit, or consistently high volume of produce.

By contrast, markets in Los Angeles allow for resale, as long as it’s clearly marked.

I'm told there is an informal standard at the New Albany Farmers Market expressed as a percentage of food grown by the purveyor, versus what he or she has purchased for resale.

However, there isn't any mention of this formula at the FAQ section of the web site, and I've never seen clear labeling at the stalls which might help make the distinction more clear.

Who can sell at the Farmers Market?

Items sold must be created/produced locally in our region (from Southern Indiana, Northern Kentucky, Ohio, etc).

What about YOU, the consumer? You have responsibilities, too, and here's a list of annoyances straight from the producers' mouths.

9 Annoying Things You Do at Farmers' Markets, According to Farmers, by Jessica Leigh Hester and Vicky Gan (City Lab)

Recently, CityLab interviewed a number of farmers and vendors at some of our favorite markets. Their responses were overwhelmingly enthusiastic—they love that locals are excited to support small-scale local agriculture. But after a little while, they loosened up and swapped tales of nightmare customers, such as serial produce nibblers or sample snatchers. Then there are the aesthetic elitists, who sniff at the “misshapen” heirloom tomatoes.

Below are some of these vendors’ most common—and most surprising—complaints. They just might help you make the farmers’ market experience more bucolic for everyone.

Regional Cities Initiative 1: Cooperation inducement, or bait 'n' switch?

There's an emerging mantra in my world.

Every day, not every now and then.

"Day in, day out" encapsulates my preferred tactic to achieve progress. Speaking for myself as the owner of an independent local business, the daily business climate almost always trumps special, one-off events. It is the undertow, and the cash flow.

In terms of small business, the main point is determining what can be done to improve quality of life every single day, rather than hope a one-off festival or recurring special event attracts "new" and potentially returning customers. If the festival or event is of sufficient gravity to attract a crowd, it stands to reason that most attendees are coming for the music, art or beer -- not to take note of the surroundings. Some surely will, but spreading the risk and the reward throghout the year, every day, is the better formula for ultimate success.

It is uncommon for me to reprint an article so soon (below), but with New Albany having so many "micro" issues going chronically unaddressed, the randomly "macro" aspect of Indiana's Regional Cities Initiative has struck me as a red flag (or more aptly, red herring) from the very start.

More succinctly, when One Southern Indiana starts getting giggly and giddy over the Regional Cities Initiative, it meant we should be getting very cautious. As we'll see in part two, Clark County's council already has.

I'm not entirely rejecting the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative.

As the Indy Star noted recently, it might have genuine merit. When a WDRB reporter asked me what I thought, we had a long conversation, and I said that in the end, whatever compels adjacent communities talking with each other probably is a good thing.

Conversely, we could be talking regionally right now, and working on smaller projects right now. There is a "win the lottery" aspect of the Regional Cities Initiative that is worrisome, and the involvement of the same old regional suspects who brought us the Bridges Boondoggle is even more alarming, owing to yet another loss of local planning sovereignty (see part two).

Might we finish a project first, before embarking on a moon landing?

The following was posted on January 5, 2015.

---

Council Night 3: The Regional Cities Initiative's bait 'n' switch comes to a Greenway near you.

Before tying things into the council meeting tonight, let's catch up.

The most recent downtown merchant "mixer" meeting was held on December 16 at Strandz & Threadz, and weirdly enough for a group that seldom attracts more than a dozen attendees, and is routinely ignored by the city's ostensible "economic development" officials, the chat was attended by both State Representative Ed Clere and Mayor Jeff Gahan.

They were there to inform struggling downtown merchants about the potential sheen of the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative, which at first glance appears to be one of those world-classic, chamber-endorsed, bait 'n' switch ideas designed to divert attention from the mundane daily grind of the here and now (which abjectly terrifies City Hall) and instead, to fix all our gazes toward a bountiful harvest ... a coin flip to be determined some day, down the road.

I was fascinated by the spectacle. In November, David "Industrial Park First" Duggins had dominated the merchant meeting as visiting enforcer, there to silence me and gloweringly assure shop owners that they didn't want to hear about the potential for two-way streets to improve their businesses quite soon, in the short term.

Then a month later, here was the mayor himself, spending half an hour describing the Regional Cities Initiative, a strictly "might be" iffy proposition, tantamount to time spent allocating future lottery winnings to the background noise of a Disney soundtrack instead of counting the change actually occupying the jar. If only someone other than a dissident like me would have said:

"But if it would help business downtown, couldn't we change the streets next week?"

The fact is, the missed opportunity cost of Jeff Gahan’s present-day neglect of small business is irrefutable, and the evidence to support my position is overwhelming, but I've already made these points.

Back to tonight, when a council currently configured to do quite little will listen as the Greenway explains its place in that future largesse from Big Daddy Pencebucks.

McLaughlin to seek third term as Mayor Gahan's pliant boy (News and Tribune)

 ... Though there’s only one voting item on Monday’s agenda — a final reading on a road salt purchase appropriation — the body is slated to hear a report on a potential expansion of some of the features of the Ohio River Greenway.

After holding public meetings on the idea in Clark and Floyd counties, representatives of the Paul Ogle Foundation will detail their plan to assist the Ohio River Greenway Commission to “possibly elevate the Greenway to the next level in both scope and scale.”

The Ogle Foundation hopes to pair its plan with the Regional Cities Initiative to be considered by the state legislature this year. The legislation could leverage up to $1 billion in public and private investment for infrastructure and quality-of-life projects around the state, as communities would compete to garner those funds.

Right now, we have a few hundred thousand dollars worth of bigger fish to fry, and so at least it's encouraging to hear Scott Blair publicly question the latest unelected back room board diktat, this one being last week's behind-the-council's-posterior decision by the Board of Works to fund an ill-considered farmers market buildout and a bizarrely situated dog park, three miles out of town on Budd Road.

Councilman Scott Blair said he would like to see the city’s dog park, which is slated to be constructed at Cannon Acres, moved near the Greenway to further bolster the usefulness of the walking and biking path.

“We need to add amenities along that facility,” Blair said.

What we really need to do is finish the Greenway's decades-long first phase, don't you think? After all, Silver Creek might as well be Puget Sound for all the good an unbridged Greenway in pieces does us.

Defending hated buildings, and building a better New Albany.

Empire State Plaza, Albany NY (from the article)

One of the central misnomers about historic preservation is that is espoused to the exclusion of new buildings. Rather, the idea that the greenest building is the one already standing impels preserving and reusing what we already have, even as we contemplate the functionality and aesthetic of "next."

This being the 30th anniversary of my first European vacation, I've been contemplating my exposure to cities (Berlin, Vienna, Budapest) that suffered significant damage during World War II, and the way that their urban tapestry embraces old, new, and everything in between. I've often observed to those commending the revival of downtown New Albany that the real turning point will be when surface parking lots created by demolishing older structures become the site of new construction.

That's why ill-considered projects like the farmers market expansion make so little sense. Prime acreage is lost for what is supposed to be, by its very nature, a transient institution.

If we insist on subsidizing and incentivizing companies from elsewhere to erect new buildings, as with the sewer tap-in waivers granted Flaherty and Collins for the apartment buildings at the moribund Coyle property, then we'd be better off stepping outside the box and borrowing a page from Columbus by encouraging boldness in design.

Is it really progress to obliterate the historic tavern at 922 Culbertson, which stood the test of time and could have been rehabbed, with houses made of pressboard and balsa wood -- ones designed primarily for campaign press releases, and not sustainability in a neighborhood so desperately needing it?

The underlying point in each of the following defenses of "hated" buildings is that civilization is renewed through the new, in addition to honoring the old. Every day is a snapshot of a composite.

In a place like New Albany, these decisions must be removed from the money mill of partisan political considerations, as so tirelessly exploited by Team Gahan, and based instead on rational decision-making and consistent, demonstrable criteria.

Seven Leading Architects Defend the World’s Most Hated Buildings, as told to Alexandra Lange (New York Times)

Can the field’s top minds change the way we think about a doomed housing project in Naples or the most abhorred skyscraper in Paris? Allow them to try.

Campaign Diary, Chapter 1: Municipal governance is about every day, not every now and then.

There were so many City Hall stalwarts at the farmers market yesterday that I thought a plaque to one of them was about to be dedicated.

Soon we'll probably need to demolish an historical structure to build a pole barn to house them all -- the plaques, not the stalwarts.

But it's good to know that I'm already having a positive effect on the mayor's race. Jeff Gahan was politicking at the farmers market, and he was not wearing a three-piece suit. Kevin Zurschmiede was shopping, too, and rocking the casual attire. Surely a sartorial revolution is underway ... sans culottes.

At least we now can understand the urgency with which Team Gahan pushed through New Albany's farmers market build-out at 11:59 p.m. on December 31.

Jeff Gahan's quarter-million dollar farmers market fluff job.

It's all about keeping up with the Moores, because Jeffersonville has a nice, shiny new structure to house the farmer market there -- and as we've seen, Team Gahan's prime (only) re-election strategy in 2015 is to constantly point toward nice, shiny new objects, while taking great care to peel off the price tags first.

Our temporary seasonal events, primarily benefiting agriculturalists who live elsewhere, shall take a back seat to no one's! Damn the sticker shock -- full subsidy ahead!

Consequently, it's important to make a point, and to keep making it.

Municipal governance is about every day, not every now and then. 

New Albany is a city, and must function as a city to be efficient. We've learned that while all areas of the city matter, our overall health is weakened when there's a hole downtown, in the place where urban density can truly be an economic engine.

New Albany's independent business community has spearheaded the revitalization of downtown, and done so almost entirely without the usual economic development subsidies and incentives, warded the usual suspects. This is positive news, but there is much more to be done.

The city's basic infrastructure must promote economic development and quality of life, not work against them.

Walkability, as enhanced by two-way "complete" and calmed streets, and as exhaustively outlined in Jeff Speck's downtown street network study, would constitute a quantum leap forward for the entirety of the downtown business community to reach the next level, and on a day-in, day-out basis.

This precisely is the value of the Big Four Bridge in Jeffersonville. It works for its intended purpose every single day. The same would be true of Speck's street reform plan, when (if ever) implemented in New Albany.

The Speck plan is our Big Four Bridge. Do it now, not later.

Meanwhile, the farmers market, while a valued component, is seasonal and occasional, as are special events like the Bicentennial Park concerts and others requiring street closings, which can both help and hurt downtown independent local businesses.

Team Gahan remains enamored of itself as an all-purpose special events coordinator, and City Hall emphasizes these one-off, temporary events. They make for wonderful plaque erection, but ignore the single most obvious way to help downtown: Walkability, bicycle friendliness ... the Speck plan ... infrastructure that works every hour of every day, not a few hours here and there.

Municipal governance is about every day, not every now and then. 

The idea is to maintain the infrastructure suited to an active and evolving urban core, keep the economic playing field level, and watch as local independent businesses and creative entities act as their own special events coordinators, from the grassroots, without control from the top. Speck's principles are designed (that word again) to restore the historic business district as a vibrant and movable feast, on a nightly basis.

Of course, local small-pond politicians don't like grassroots empowerment of the sort I'm describing here, because it doesn't allow them to claim credit. Jeff Gahan says we cannot even think about Speck-styled streets for a year and a half.

Gahan's foot is on the wrong brake.

In delaying, prevaricating and insisting on secretive control, Gahan is damaging the very revival he so enjoys crediting himself for achieving. City Hall shouldn't be picking winners for political reasons. It should be acting as the grounds crew for infrastructure, and the referee when the match is under way.

Jeff Gahan is supposed to be helping matters, not retarding their progress. There can be only one conclusion.

Nash, Bored of Works to downtown merchants: Shut up, stop complaining, consider selling nice carrots.

Got tomatoes?

Let's see if I have this straight.

Business owners who have invested in downtown New Albany with the reasonable expectation of a level playing field, and who conduct their transactions all year-round, observe that temporary unannounced street changes necessitated by a politically-motivated farmers market capital improvement project -- one not once discussed or vetted publicly in any coherent way -- interferes with their operations on a profitable day of the week.

They follow the instructions handed down to them from above, and make space in their work day to come to the Board of Works  (it not being an option to hold meetings any other time than mornings on a Tuesday, or to communicate with the public in any other manner) so as to make this point: In the absence (yet again) of transparency and communication, and while not questioning the utility of the farmers market itself, why are year-round bricks 'n' mortar merchants inconvenienced for the sake of businesses (i.e., the farmers) that are located outside the city?

It's hardly hoisting the black flag: Shouldn't they have been part of the conversation, and shouldn't they have been informed?

The board chews its cud for a week, and then predictably, instead of providing answers to the earnest questions asked, it expresses outrage at being inconvenienced, and abruptly transforms the requests into a referendum on the farmers market itself. The usual suspects are assembled to pledge fealty, denounce the interlopers, and provide vapid theater of the absurd. The Democratic party chairman takes notes, better to bring Redevelopment onto the side of "fundamentally better" conformity.

Not only is this entire charade intellectually dishonest -- and I risk insulting the word "intellectual" by connecting it with a politicized appendage like the board of works -- but it speaks to the core vindictiveness of the Gahan administration. 

There'll never be a "zero-budget" consideration of top-down assumptions, which if questioned, will result in the discrediting of the questioner (see: Dan Coffey vs. Diane Benedetti in the 5th).

The only thing missing at yesterday's by-the-numbers show trial was Warren Nash selling popcorn and admission tickets, with a percentage of the proceeds going directly to Jeff Gahan's re-election fund.

Perhaps Antiques Attic can purchase penance by paying its Temerity Tax directly to the mayor.

Board gives vote of confidence to New Albany Farmers Market, by Chris Morris (Repel the Interlopers Digest)

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany Farmers Market isn’t going anywhere — at least not for the next nine weeks.

The New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety gave the market a vote of confidence Tuesday, which means Bank Street, from Market to Spring, will remain closed from 6 a.m. to around 1 p.m. each Saturday for vendors to sell goods until the Farmers Market pavilion renovations are completed in July.

New Albany's new slogan: "Truck Through City" ... Part 89: Let US help you with the issues WE caused by closing the street.

Worthy of a touristic postcard, isn't it? 

My single favorite plot device, one sprinkled "liberally" through local board meetings (see what I did there?), is when the bureaucrats who caused the problem in the first place earnestly promise to "look into" resolving it.

Concern grows over New Albany Farmers Market (Suddeath; N and T)

Though the closure is only expected to last until construction is completed on the new Farmers Market pavilion, some business owners chided the city for shutting down a second block of Bank Street so that vendors could set up booths ...

... But the market is intended to help farmers and businesses, so the city and organizers want to ensure people are satisfied with the operation, (Susan) Kaempfer and (Mickey) Thompson said.

“We’re trying to do anything we can to accommodate everyone while the street is closed,” Kaempfer said ...

Feeling better yet?

Let's hope this week's collection of photos, subtitled "tons and tons of steel for your quality of life" help to ease the pain of lost revenue. Just remember: They're looking into it.

The "solution is density," in which small parks play a design role.

There is no room for creative design downtown? Red = blank urban fabric.

Once New Albany had a grand post office at the corner of Spring and Pearl. It was targeted by Suburban Think and bulldozed in the 1960s for conversion into a mundane parking lot.

So it remained until just a few years ago, when we spent far too much money, perhaps a million and counting, to transform the space into what's known now as Bicentennial Park, one bounded by a building, an alley, and two one-way streets, one of which is a high-speed arterial.

The appearance of Bicentennial Park undoubtedly is an improvement on the poorly maintained parking lot owned by notorious slumlords, but it was built without multi-modal use in mind -- and might mere beautification have been done less expensively?

Also, as with the farmers market build-out at Market and Bank, a crucial street corner is tied to an occasional use concept rather than soon-to-be possible infill construction. With all due respect to my friend David White, high rises never were as much the objective as achieving density by filling gaps downtown.

The overall "message" as conveyed by the city's design, and its periodic use of Bicentennial Park for organized events, is that it isn't really a public space meant for adaptation and impromptu use. Rather, it's for shows and for gigs it wasn't built to support, meaning that each such temporary use must be funded again, over and over. How does this make sense?

The planning and design of Bicentennial Park were decreed from the top-down, and they ignore inclusive principles of community and placemaking in favor of finding a spot to erect a self-congratulatory plaque.

Meanwhile, in DC ... a counter example.

Fairfax trades a parking lot for a new park, by Canaan Merchant (Greater Greater Washington)

Old Town Square in Fairfax used to be a park that nobody used because it was wedged between two parking lots in the middle of the city's small, historic core. Now it's bigger and more inviting, and it's helping Fairfax embrace its urban roots.

An idea from Bloomington, Indiana: The Farmers' Market Advisory Council.

It's a farmers market Saturday in downtown New Albany, and as we've seen recently ... once again ... persistently poor communications in a time of rising expectations can be a toxic brew.

City Hall non-transparency yet again: Independent downtown businesses negatively impacted by Saturday farmers market street closing.

Mulberry House Antiques and "an encroaching Farmers Market.

As a Twitter friend suggests, we might look regionally to other successful examples of a farmers market for useful clues as to the constructive fostering of cooperation.

His example is Bloomington, Indiana. Note first that in Bloomington, the farmers market is operated by the parks department.

Then, expanding this example, ponder an advisory board in New Albany representing not only vendors and customers, but downtown merchants. The point is constantly made hereabouts that the presence of the farmers market is a boon to downtown merchants. That's plausible, and if so, wouldn't inter-relatedness be enhanced by including merchants in the loop of communications?

People say I'm a dreamer.

But I'm not the only one.

About the Farmers' Market Advisory Council

The Farmers' Market Advisory Council consists of nine members representing two groups, Market customers and Market vendors. The Council acts in an advisory capacity to the Board of Park Commissioners and Park staff on policy matters relating to the Farmers' Market.

Meetings are usually held at 5:15 p.m. the third Monday of each month in the Parks and Recreation Department Conference Room, located in Suite 250 at 401 N. Morton St. in City Hall. Advisory Council meetings are open to the public.