Daily Egyptian MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SINCE 1916
VOL. 99 ISSUE 83
Farmers Market new hours accommodate students ANNA SPOERRE | @ASpoerre_DE
Students no longer have to wake up at dawn on Saturday to buy ripe tomatoes and crisp apples. In June, the Carbondale Community Farmers Market expanded its business hours and location to include Wednesdays from 4-7 p.m. on Washington Street, in addition to Saturdays from 8 a.m.noon at Carbondale Community High School. Reanna Putnam, director of the Carbondale Community Farmers Market, moved to Carbondale last December from Colorado, where she spent five years researching and working with small farmers. Now she focuses on making farmers markets more accessible in southern Illinois. Putnam said a trip to the market to buy fresh, local produce is beneficial to the area. “Farmers markets serve a big function in a community,” Putnam said. “It’s a source of livelihood for small farmers.” Giving farmers an additional sales opportunity was also done in the interest of restaurant owners, students and busy parents who are often not able to go to the market on Saturday mornings. The new night market is located downtown across from Newell House. “The Wednesday night market could be really great for students to learn more about food,” Putnam said. “The face-to-face interactions between the farmer and the customer cannot be replicated in a grocery store.” Zach Constable, a senior from Chatham studying forestry, helps at the market as a member of the SIU Student Sustainable Farm, a program that teaches students how to run a small farm. He said he encourages students to buy fresh produce. ”You’re giving money to these small businesses and you’re growing food the right way, the healthy way,”
Aidan Osborne | D AILY E GYPTIAN Homer Jenkins, of Murphysboro, smiles in his vegetable stand Wednesday at the Carbondale Community Farmers Market. After graduating from SIU, Jenkins raised hogs until three years ago when he opened his business “Homer Grown”.
Constable said. “And it’s good for your body.” April Vigardt, manager of the SIU Student Sustainable Farm, said the community market provides a unique and important learning experience for her students. “We’re trying to teach them not just the production side, but also the marketing and selling side [of farming], because that’s the harder part—to get people to buy.” The success of the local market system has become a communitywide effort in many ways. The SIU Sustainable Farm not only sells fresh
produce at the market but also to SIU’s dining halls and Cristaudos Café, Bakery and Catering, located downtown on Illinois Avenue. Leah Macielle and Nicholas Stewart, two of the four owners of Cristaudos, say the additional Wednesday market has been helpful for the restaurant. “It’s so hard for restaurant owners to get out on a Saturday morning,” Macielle said. Since the additional market opened, Cristaudos now buys and uses even more local produce in the store.
“I shy away from big producers because without individual care, the quality goes down,” Stewart said. Vigardt said this shift in focus to local food is partially because of a strong local food economy being important to the stability of an area. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of farmers markets in the United States has quadrupled in the past 20 years. However, the market success in Carbondale has not been as strong compared to areas with larger customer bases. Expansion depends on people’s willingness to show up regularly.
“It’s a different scale. It’s not like these big cities where you have foodies who are willing to spend $5 on a big bunch of kale,” Putnam said. “But it’s a good entry market and I think our farmers really like the connections.” Homer Jenkins of Murphysboro is one such farmer. Jenkins retired from hog farming and started his business, “Homer Grown” three years ago. He said it is an honor to be able to produce quality, healthy, fresh vegetables for the residents of Carbondale. “It’s my goal to be their farmer.”
60 years, countless regulars and one woman: Local tavern celebrates anniversary MARISSA NOVEL | @MarissaNovelDE
By day, stained glass windows with pin-up style mermaids are permeated by sunlight as constant echoes of laughter and familiar hellos bounce off the tavern walls, which are covered in decades-old memorabilia. By night, the dimly-lit bar, which offers dollar Busch and Pabst Blue Ribbon drafts daily, bustles as hips swing to the sounds of local and touring classic rock, blues and Americana bands. PK’s, a 21 and up bar on the Strip, TJ Price | D AILY E GYPTIAN celebrated its 60th anniversary Saturday, Andrew Augsburger plays pool on Saturday at PK’s during the bar’s 60th opening at 8 a.m. and giving out anniversary celebration. commemorative shot glasses to the first
@DAILYEGYPTIAN
60 customers. People began forming a line at the door as early as 7:30 a.m. Performances throughout the day featured two local acts, classic rock band The Natives and the bluesy Slapping Henry Blue. Drink specials included 50 cent, throwback-priced Busch and Pabst Blue Ribbon drafts. Though the location, menu and spirit selections have changed, the bar — formerly known as Pizza King — has been promoting a friendly atmosphere for decades. The only constant other than a sea of smiles among regulars is the bar’s owner, Gwen Hunt. “My ex-husband and I ... in 1955, August, introduced pizza to Carbondale
for the very first time,” she said. Gwen, who came to the university from Metropolis in 1952, opened PK’s on the west side of the city with her then husband, Tom Hunt, with less than $1,000 and bought mismatched tables and chairs from used furniture dealers. It was the only establishment to serve pizza until Italian Village opened five years later. In 1957, they moved to a location on the 700 block of South Illinois Avenue, which is now the overpass above Mill Street. During that time customers were able to bring their own spirits to restaurants. Please see PK’S | 4