Eastern Market
Metro: Eastern Market
Times: South Hall - Tues-Sat/7am-6pm & Sun/9am-6pm
Farmers’ Line - Sat-Sun/7am-4pm
Location: 7th St. & North Carolina Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.
There are two components to the food available: the South Hall Food Merchants who are operating in the “East Hall” temporary structure directly across the street and the open air farmer’s line that is only open on the weekends.
Both the Eastern Market building AND its interior are designated National Historic Landmarks. The market has been in continuous operation since 1873. For more information click here . There is also an on-going arts and crafts fair and a flea market adjacent to the market that is open every Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
Dupont Circle
USDA Farmers Market
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Original Inspiration
My original inspiration for this blog began in a small city wayyy south of the Mason-Dixon line in Corpus Christi, TX. My parents own two small sushi restaurants down there and almost every summer, when I came home from college I helped out as a waitress. After watching construction for a green building commence at my undergrad alma mater, Mount Holyoke – paired with my growing understanding of resource conflicts around East and Southeast Asia (my BA studies), I couldn’t help but feel guilty at the way my family was doing business. Throwing away countless pairs of chopsticks after just a few dips in soy sauce just didn’t feel right, especially with the knowledge that forests across Asia and Latin America were being ravaged for modern convenience.
So slowly but surely, my sister and I began greening my parents’ restaurant. First, we tackled the low-hanging fruit: regular chopsticks replaced the disposable ones; cloth napkins replaced paper ones; and of course, recycling. Then we tackled issues specific to our restaurant: we turned our sushi menu into a laminated one that people could mark with a dry-erase marker so that we could reuse it over and over; we started using green cleaning supplies when we could; and we started monitoring our water usage. There are still a number of things that my parents are planning to do – but we have also inserted some new language into our menus in the hopes of educating our customers about these small but significant changes. Though we didn’t want to seem preachy, we actually had to begin this educational component because people started stealing our chopsticks! Purchasing attractive non-disposable chopsticks was expensive - but to have people begin pilfering them was making my case less and less attractive to my parents. My sister has since taken over greening our families small business- and if people are interested – I can post additional updates here.
When I moved to D.C. and told my roommate about ‘greening’ our sushi restaurant- she insisted I think more large-scale. A great deal of brainstorming and grand ideas were finally streamlined into something more manageable and hands-on: a blog about green living options available to us here in the District. I hope you all find this site super useful!
-greenDCgirl
So slowly but surely, my sister and I began greening my parents’ restaurant. First, we tackled the low-hanging fruit: regular chopsticks replaced the disposable ones; cloth napkins replaced paper ones; and of course, recycling. Then we tackled issues specific to our restaurant: we turned our sushi menu into a laminated one that people could mark with a dry-erase marker so that we could reuse it over and over; we started using green cleaning supplies when we could; and we started monitoring our water usage. There are still a number of things that my parents are planning to do – but we have also inserted some new language into our menus in the hopes of educating our customers about these small but significant changes. Though we didn’t want to seem preachy, we actually had to begin this educational component because people started stealing our chopsticks! Purchasing attractive non-disposable chopsticks was expensive - but to have people begin pilfering them was making my case less and less attractive to my parents. My sister has since taken over greening our families small business- and if people are interested – I can post additional updates here.
When I moved to D.C. and told my roommate about ‘greening’ our sushi restaurant- she insisted I think more large-scale. A great deal of brainstorming and grand ideas were finally streamlined into something more manageable and hands-on: a blog about green living options available to us here in the District. I hope you all find this site super useful!
-greenDCgirl
greenDCgirl begins!
Yay! What originally started off as an idea to keep me busy while I was job searching and then got shelved when I started working 9-5 has finally taken off. Welcome to greenDCgirl. You might notice that there is also a website: www.greendcgirl.com – however due to my lack of general tech savyness, the website will have to wait. In the meantime- while I figure out hosting issues and html quandaries – I will begin blogging here. My main goal with this platform is to set up an ‘information clearinghouse’ for green living in our nation’s capitol. I’m going to begin pretty humbly by focusing on my favorite topic – food! In the next few weeks I will be putting up information on farmer’s market locations & times; food co-op’s; supermarkets that stock organic and locally sourced foods; and organic or green restaurants.
In the future, these are some of the topics I plan on tackling:
-Biking routes; bike insurance & registration (to help the police track your stolen bikes)
-The Green Restaurant Association
-Coffee: Organic, Shade-grown and Bird Friendly – Where to get green coffee in the District
-My Neighborhood Trees: Get to know the trees in your neighborhood!
-Green courses available in the area (Casey Trees)
-Priorities: Local or Organic?
-Recycling in the District
-Green housing options in the area
-Green furniture suppliers in the DC/VA/MD area
-Good Wood: Distinguishing between forest certification programs
-What does the USDA Organic symbol actually guarantee?
-Working Green: Green career support in the District
-Green Events Calendar
-Planning a Green Wedding and Green Engagement Rings!
And of course, if any of you guys have ideas- please email me and I would love to look into it.
-greenDCgirl
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