David Meeks of Flying Fish Seafood and Company with Carolina red snapper at last weekend's Davidson Farmer's Market. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Davidson Farmer’s Market has added fish from the Carolinas’ coast to its weekly menu of local meat and produce.

Also in this column, a last-minute reminder about this weekend’s Know Your Farms tour of area farms (including an ostrich-ranch sleepout opportunity), a new menu offering at Tenders Fresh Food, and a new food twist to the Davidson Housing Coalition’s fall fund-raising ride – a “Taste of Home” food area featuring local shops and restaurants.

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Kids play, parents sip coffee and shoppers browse at a recent Davidson Farmer's Market. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Over the past two years, the Davidson Farmer’s Market has become much more than just a place to buy local food. It has become a Saturday morning gathering spot for Davidsonians and Davidson-lovers. Beginning this week, some market goers are hoping to start a new tradition of Saturday morning picnics at the market. Also below, this week’s market schedule and confirmation that a Char Grill restaurant is coming to Davidson.

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Campaign battles perception that cork isn’t eco-friendly

Workers harvest cork much the same way as they have for generations.

In recent years, some winemakers have promoted the benefits of screw-top or artificial wine stoppers. Often, the pitch has been an environmental one, arguing that these materials are somehow better than cork, because they weren’t harvested from a tree.

It turns out the anti-cork pitch probably was a myth. (A money-saving measure for wineries?) And now cork growers are fighting back with a global public relations campaign of their own to promote the use of cork.

The campaign, backed by the Portuguese government, argues that cork is the more eco-friendly alternative because cork trees are a renewable resource. [To help prove the point, Portugal’s pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai is made of cork.]

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Updated Thursday, Sept. 2, 9:45 a.m.
Char Grill, a late-night fast-food chain that operates in the Triangle, plans to make Davidson Commons shopping center off I-77 Exit 30 the site of its first Charlotte-area restaurant early next year. Also below, news about a sign design workshop for Rushco Market, at Exit 30.
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Isabel Dominguez with a multicolored dozen eggs from her family's Millstone Meadows Farm in Morganton. Hey, why are some eggs blue? See below. (Cathryn Westra/DavidsonNews.net)

By CATHRYN WESTRA
DavidsonNews.net

At the Davidson Farmer’s Market the other day, local farmer Tommy Barbee was asked about the benefits of buying local eggs.

“They’re not from Iowa,” he joked.

National headlines recently focused on a recent salmonella outbreak that prompted a massive recall from large Midwest egg producers. On Wednesday, news reports said federal agents have returned this week to Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa. The two farms Continue Reading

Natalie Veres of Grateful Growers Farm in Denver talks to visitors at last year's farm tour about her hogs. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

SOURCE: Know Your Farms LLC
Davidson’s Know Your Farms LLC is planning its 2nd annual Charlotte Area Farm Tour the weekend of Sept. 18-19. The tour is a great opportunity for families to connect with the area’s thriving agricultural community. Children learn to appreciate where their food comes from and are delighted to interact with local cows, pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep. Adults have an opportunity to learn about natural and sustainable production methods that can be used in their own backyard gardens, as well as gain useful cooking and nutritional tips for healthy meal preparation. Continue Reading