Market today! Chase Monday! Olympics in June!
See you at the Main St. Farmers' Market!
A triple-decker of events to announce.
- This afternoon, from 4 to 6 pm, Food as a Verb is vending at the Main Street Farmers' Market.
We'd love to see you. Stop by, shake hands, swap stories. We'll be selling good swag, like our debonair t-shirts and hats.
Don't those shirts look good? For that photo, we hired a professional model – young, hip, svelte, cosmopolitan with arms like Ryan Reynolds. (Clearly, he didn't show up.)
We'll be selling hats, too.
But not the hat in the photo. Oh no. That hat was imported from fashion runways in London. Or, Sarah, was it Milan?
"Hat coutere," she said.
Oof.
No, no, we're selling these hats.
We'll also have a few tomato plants, also. In the Cook greenhouse, I started too many. Glad to share. The variety: Paul Robeson, a Russian heirloom named after the African American singer, concert performer, actor, professional athlete and human rights activist.
Buy a Food as a Verb t-shirt or hat, get a free Paul Robeson tomato plant.
- Speaking of athletes and activism, on June 8, the Southeast TN Young Farmers Association will host its second annual Farm Olympics.
"It'll be a full day of fun competition with a pig roast picnic dinner and live music and dancing," said Emily Heid. "This is our big community event and fundraiser – it's our second Farm Olympics and we'll also be celebrating our 5th year as an organization!"
The Southeast TN Young Farmers Association is one of our favorite groups doing such steadfast work. Their mission: to support young, aspiring, beginning and BIPOC farmers through community-building, resource and knowledge-sharing and advocacy.
Growing the next generation of farmers takes funding, community and networking. These Olympics are a great way to achieve all three.
The Olympics sound hilariously fun. There's the Kubota of Chattanooga transplant race. ("Participants start with 12 flower plugs, a trowel, and a yogurt container filled with water.") The American Farmland Trust Obstacles to Land Access Race. Egg juggling. Hay bale tossing. If only a hat-wearing contest.
Then, contra dancing, a pig roast, music.
For tickets and more info, visit here.
Food as a Verb thanks Bruce Weiss and River St. Deli for its years of service, generosity and deli-goodness.
Since 1998, River St. Deli has been serving NY-inspired food and big-hearted kindness from its Coolidge Park location.
- Finally, our favorite road race is five days away: the Chattanooga Chase, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.
Food as a Verb hosts the big-time, big-top, post-race Block Party, which means we'll be there, beers nearby, handing out new swag, saying hi, rubbing hamstrings – ours, not yours – and enjoying the Memorial Day joy.
I've known race director and Fast Break Athletics owner Alan Outlaw for many years. He's a man among men, one of the finest Chattanoogans I know. (Don't tell him I said this.)
Over the years, I've learned many things from him, foremost: the value of relationships.
Key word: value.
Fast Break is a relationship store that specializes in running. Its love language is local relationship. Most local businesses are rooted in the same basic formula: relationships first, product second. This is what gives local businesses such value, meaning, worth.
Look at the Chase. It's surrounded every-which-way with local businesses. It benefits a local hospital. Organized by local men and women from your neighborhood, church or yoga studio.
What's this got to do with Food as a Verb?
Everything. By spotlighting local food, we, too, are elevating, uplifting and promoting people and places with whom you can build genuine, wholesome, real relationships.
Local-anything, from running stores to breweries to media startups, builds community, connecting the dots, not undoing them.
Food as a Verb thanks Tucker Build, our sustaining partner, for its generous support.
Tucker Build offers Chattanooga a commercial construction firm made up of design-build experts specializing in the planning, building and managing process.
The Chattanooga Chase exemplifies all of this. It is a community event with a side dish of running.
Best of all, the race benefits Siskin Children's Institute and its marvelous work.
Sign up here. Run, walk, stroll or just come on down to the block party.
See you Sunday, for an unforgettable story about violence, food and freedom.
All photography by Sarah Unger (sarah@foodasaverb.com)
All design by Alex DeHart
All words by David Cook (david@foodasaverb.com)
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in sponsorship or advertising opportunities? Email us: david@foodasaverb.com and sarah@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
Food as a Verb thanks our sustaining partners for their generous support.
Female-and-locally owned, Divine Goods offers beautifully curated gifts for every occasion. Be divine and send someone special a Divine Goods gift - locally sourced when possible, and always thoughtful. Niedlov's Bakery & Cafe, a Main St. anchor, has elevated our city's bakery experience to beautiful levels while strengthening community in immeasurable ways. Since 1953, when AC Pruett began selling cabbage out of his truck bed, the Pruett family has been serving Chattanooga's food landscape. Currently, Pruett's Market on Signal Mountain offers a gorgeous grocery store complete with organic and local options balanced with a small-town market atmosphere. For more than 25 years, Lupi's has served locally-sourced, creatively made and award-winningly delicious pizza pies from five nearby locations. Now open in St. Elmo, Little Coyote blends together Texas barbeque, Cuban, Caribbean and Southwestern influences – smoked meats, stunningly original tortillas, 100 varieties of tequilas, sotols and mezcals – for a family-style restaurant experience unlike any other in Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Area Food Bank believes that no one should go hungry, and through our network of over 250 hunger-relief partners, we provide equitable access to food and resources to end hunger today and build pathways for a healthy, hunger-free future tomorrow. Society of Work is a shared coworking space designed with business flexibility in mind and the resources to help like-minded people connect and create amazing things together. From private offices to 24/7 coworking memberships, we provide the space you need to get work done.
Regional Farmers' Markets
Food as a Verb thanks our sustaining partners for their generous support.
Regional Farmers' Markets
- Main St. Farmers' Market
Corner of W. 20th and Chestnut St., near Finley Stadium
Wednesday, 4 - 6pm
- Brainerd Farmers' Market
Grace Episcopal Church, 20 Belvoir Ave, Chattanooga, TN
Saturday, 10am - noon
- Chattanooga Market
1820 Carter Street, Sunday, 11am - 4pm
- Fresh Mess Market
Harton Park, Monteagle, TN. (Rain location: Monteagle Fire Hall.)
Every Thursday, 3pm - 6pm, beg. June 6 - Oct. 3
- Ooltewah Farmers' Market
The Ooltewah Nursery, Thursday, 3 - 6pm
Pre-order online for Thursday pick-up between 4 - 6pm at Bachman Community Center
- South Cumberland Farmers’ Market
Sewanee Community Center (behind the Sewanee Market on Ball Park Rd.) Tuesdays from 4:15 to 6:00 p.m. (central.) Order online by Monday 10 am (central.)
- St. Albans Farmers' Market
7514 Hixson Pike, Saturday, 9.30am - 12.30pm with a free pancake breakfast every third Saturday
- Walker County Farmers' Market
Wednesday, 2 - 5 pm, Rock Spring Ag. Center
Saturday, 9 am - 1 pm, downtown Lafayette, Georgia
To include your farmers market, email david@foodasaverb.com