As we all know by now, Charlottesville is a foodie town. You can dine at a different place every night for a year and not eat at the same place twice it seems.
And if you don’t want to partake of our many amazing restaurants, you can always find freshly picked and locally sourced ingredients to prepare a memorable meal at home.
Farmer’s markets have long been a staple for residents in our area to pick up in-season fruits and vegetables, eggs and meat and seafood items.
Farmer’s markets & public gardens
Back in the day, it wasn’t unusual for families to tend a small kitchen garden so that they had access to fresh herbs and vegetables that they would then dry or can for the long winter months.
When the first farmer’s market in Downtown Charlottesville started in 1973 and opened from April to October, it quickly gained a following as a great place to pick up fresh fruits and veggies and also meet up with friends.
Other days of the week have also been added to rotation – with Wednesdays at Meade Park and Tuesdays at Pen Park.
Our area has also gotten into the community garden business and there are four around town managed by Charlottesville Parks and Rec that are available to the public. The Azalea Park gardens, located off Old Lynchburg Road, and the Meadow Creek gardens, near the English Inn, were founded in the 1970s. Residents pay a yearly fee for each space.
The newest gardens are at Michie Drive and Rives Park. Gardens can also be found at Friendship Court and there are also several managed by non-profits and local churches around town as well as at local schools like Greenbrier Elementary and Buford Middle School.
Stores get in the mix
Stores like Integral Yoga (founded in 1975 and opened as a store in 1980 and long a proponent of all things healthy and naturally sourced) now located off Preston Avenue and Rebecca’s Natural Food (opened in 1987) at Barracks Road, have been educating customers about healthy products and where to find them – Rebecca’s in particular, prides itself “on selecting the highest quality organic, local & gluten-free products.”
Other entrepreneurs have also decided there’s a large enough demand in our area to try their hand.
Many started out experimentally and then built up enough of a following to move to a storefront like Timbercreek Market, which has been serving local sustainable farm products since 2015 after selling wholesale with only a limited access for retail customers for the previous five years, and Fifth Season Gardening Company, which offers “hydroponics, fresh hops & homebrew supplies, organic gardening soil & seeds, canna, cheese-making and urban DIY.”
Larger companies like Whole Foods, which arrived in our area in 1992, and Trader Joe’s, a more recent transplant, also promote the buy organic theme but on a larger scale.
Organic Delivered
Although many families these days want to find fresh organic food, they don’t always have the time to dash off to the farmers market when they are also ferrying kids around to various soccer games and other activities on the weekends.
Well, one company has thought about that – Relay Foods offers the ability to “Shop healthy, responsibly-sourced groceries right from your computer or mobile device and have them delivered.”
They work with local vendors and make it easy for customers to have everything picked up for them and delivered right to their door – kind of like a virtual organic grocery store.
How to Choose?
With so many options to choose from, it’s tempting to just go right back to the restaurants and sit back and enjoy a meal that you know has been locally sourced just for you.
Places like The Local and MAS Tapas near Belmont, Beer Run off Carlton, Brockville Restaurant, Revolutionary Soup, Rapture, and C & O Restaurant on and just off the Downtown Mall, and Maya and Orzo on West Main Street all offer great menus that change daily depending on what’s in season.
Remember, the best way to try out any of these eating establishments is at the twice a year Restaurant Week. The next one is from Friday, January 20 to Sunday, January 29, 2017, where you can get a prix fixed meal and support the local Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
