THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: OPINION
SOURCE: George Hebert
LENGTH: 61 lines
``To market, to market, to buy a pound of butter'' or thick-sliced bacon, or fresh corn ears by the baker's dozen or a Christmas wreath or whatever. Or just to enjoy.
This bit of tinkering with the old childhood singsong may help make a point: that the public market, almost everywhere, continues as a remarkably popular institution, despite the harder going of modern times. Another reminder, for those of us in this region, has been the current debate and speculation over the future of the fire-damaged Farmer's Market in Virginia Beach.
Strong voices have insisted that the market should stay (restored and refitted, of course) in its familiar location, a little distance west of the Beach municipal center; other discussion has focused on relocation. On both sides, much has been said in support of the farm-market idea itself. But in all of the agitation, some may also find quiet hints of a possible market fade-out - a worrisome eventuality.
Many of us hereabouts have not only relished the bounties of the land, as offered within the rustic circle of stalls on Landstown Road, but we share memories of such predecessors as the bustling old City Market in Norfolk, with its fresh arrays of everything from Christmas greenery (in season) to newly grated coconut.
And the agreeable associations can reach even farther. Farm markets - some that come to fullest life on special ``market days'' - survive in various states of health all over the place.
Roanoke's Saturday market, in midcity, is one example, with its colorful, crowded counters and tailgate merchants in from the country to hawk just about everything that grows. One of the happier incidentals - a hot dog from the heavily patronized weiner stand - is enough in itself to make a visit memorable.
Another great place is the lush market in downtown Lancaster, Pa., where vendors display, among other things, Amish-grown cauliflowers larger than basketballs. As for my wife and me, we tell people we make the trip just to buy horseradish.
For big cities, there is still plenty of homey excitement at the farm market in Minneapolis, which even wriggles some of its booths into the busy, high-rise business core at times. When the market is operating and we are in the vicinity, we rarely miss going to shop and look.
At the small-city end of the scale, one of our favorite Saturday scenes, while on stays in Michigan, has been the outdoor market which materializes (spring, summer and fall) on a downtown lot in Owosso. Raspberries and new-baked fruit pies come to mind.
However, in all these locales - even more recognizable in the Virginia Beach situation - the pleased patron senses something of a struggle to maintain position and popularity in an unpredictable economy and an increasingly fluid society.
The market sites occupy valuable land; supermarket competition is heavy; people's feelings and needs change, as do official attitudes.
Amid the creeping uncertainties, only this seems sure:
The survival of farm markets - in the useful and loved form we know - cannot and should not be taken for granted. MEMO: Mr. Hebert, a former editor, lives in Norfolk. by CNB