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North Philly farmers' market offers fresh food, holistic wellness, community

At Broad and Mount Vernon Streets on Sunday afternoon, pop-up canopies blossomed in defiance of the wilting summer heat. In their shade, volunteers and vendors ran pickling demonstrations, pitched passersby on bicycle-powered urban farm tours, and proffered mental-health screenings and public-benefits counseling.

Craig Elliott and Erica Nardello shop at Drum's Produce. The market, at Broad and Mount Vernon Streets, even invites visitors to participate, via iPad, in a mental-health screening. ( MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer )
Craig Elliott and Erica Nardello shop at Drum's Produce. The market, at Broad and Mount Vernon Streets, even invites visitors to participate, via iPad, in a mental-health screening. ( MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer )Read more

At Broad and Mount Vernon Streets on Sunday afternoon, pop-up canopies blossomed in defiance of the wilting summer heat. In their shade, volunteers and vendors ran pickling demonstrations, pitched passersby on bicycle-powered urban farm tours, and proffered mental-health screenings and public-benefits counseling.

It's an eclectic crop for a farmers' market. But Common Ground Marketplace is designed to be more than just a place to buy your vegetables.

The market, which opened this month, is a collaboration between the Food Trust, a nonprofit that runs farmers' markets and promotes food access, and Congregation Rodeph Shalom, a North Broad Street synagogue. It aims to provide one-stop shopping for fresh food, holistic wellness, and community.

The idea was born a few years ago when two members of the congregation, Judith Creed and Robert Schwartz, made a donation to fund some sort of food-related social-justice work at the synagogue, Rabbi Eli Freedman said.

Since there's no supermarket nearby, he said, "we thought a market would create an opportunity for fresh produce in our area, engage our congregation around food justice, and create a neighborhood meeting space."

From there, it was a matter of marshaling resources already in the neighborhood: farmers, neighborhood groups, churches, schools. Freedman already knew some of them from organizing against a proposed casino on North Broad Street. Amanda Leahy, a project manager at the Food Trust, brought in her own connections.

"We have all these resources in a neighborhood that has been historically ignored," she said, "so it's a really lovely place-making initiative."

It's the Food Trust's first market run with a sponsor organization, much less a faith-based one. Leahy said that it was a model the Food Trust hoped could be replicated at other sites - but that coordinating all these programs required significant capacity and funding. (Karenann Jurecki, a grant writer who's a member of the congregation, landed a $10,000 grant for the market; it is now funded through 2016.)

It also requires lots of partners and sponsors. Those include the Bicycle Coalition, which is helping lead the Urban Farm and Market Tours, and Indego, the bike-share system, which is lending wheels.

Six urban farms also are participating, inviting visitors to tour their farms and then sample their produce back at the market.

On Sunday, a small group trudged through the humidity to Cloud 9 Rooftop Farm, an experimental garden atop Guild House West, a North Philadelphia housing complex for low-income seniors.

Rania Campbell-Cobb, who runs Cloud 9, led the visitors upstairs for spectacular city views, a welcome breeze, and a peek at clusters of herbs and scallions sprouting from planters of corrugated plastic atop wood pallets. It has taken a few years, she said, to find the right lightweight soil mix and plants that can tolerate the temperature shifts up on the roof. (She also reviewed building plans to find the sturdiest part of the rooftop.)

"It's a lot to think about," she said, "but it's my favorite kind of puzzle."

Joyce Randell, who lives in the area, joined the tour, clutching an umbrella to fend off the sun.

She's interested in learning more to revive her late mother's vegetable garden, she said. She was contemplating purchasing pineapple thyme, and kale for homemade kale chips.

Back at the market, Patricia Gerrity, associate dean at Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, hopes this setting will inspire visitors to consider more than just nutrition. She was on site to promote the newly expanded Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services Center, and to invite visitors to participate, via iPad, in a mental-health screening called Check Up From the Neck Up.

"Our health center is interested in all those who need care, whether they present themselves for care or not," she said. The program screens for trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, which represent a massive public-health challenge in this community, she said. "The setting of a farmers' market makes it safe. There's no stigma. It's seen as part of overall health: You're having a smoothie, buying some produce, doing a little check on your mental health."

For Freedman, this is a way for his congregation - with members from all over the city - to reach out to and strengthen its North Philadelphia neighborhood.

He believes it's a critical time for the neighborhood, which is primed for gentrification. He hopes this market, and the outreach around it, can set the tone for difficult conversations that are sure to come along with development.

"We want to be on the forefront of that being a positive development for everyone in the neighborhood," he said.

For his part, he has been running pickling workshops at the market. The organizers have funds to give away Ball jars and spices, to which Freedman adds grape leaves from his community garden, dill from an urban farm, and a favorite recipe from Sandor Katz's book Wild Fermentation. Participants need only buy a vegetable to pickle. One farmer told Freedman it was the most cucumbers he'd ever sold.

Freedman does see skeptics, who ask, "What's a rabbi doing making pickles?"

He tells them about the science of the microbiome, how researchers are discovering that bacteria in our guts can even affect our moods. Like the synergies emerging in the neighborhood around the market, so it goes with pickles.

"That interconnectedness and symbiotic relationship that we've evolved over time with bacteria - there's a certain amount of God in there for me."

Collard-Wrapped Veggie Burritos

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Makes 4 servings

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1 cup brown rice

4 medium carrots, peeled into ribbons

3 medium summer squash, peeled into ribbons

2 cucumbers, peeled and julienned

1 small head purple cabbage, shredded

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

¼ cup lime juice

4 to 6 large collard leaves

2 to 3 teaspoons cumin

Salt, pepper, to taste

1 bunch cilantro, stems discarded

Guacamole and/or salsa for garnish, if desired

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1. Bring 2 cups of water to boil, add rice, reduce heat to a simmer, cover with lid, and cook 45 minutes or until rice is soft and fluffy and no water remains. Set aside.

2. While rice is cooking, combine carrot, squash, cucumber, cabbage, and scallion in a bowl. Pour in olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice, sprinkle in cumin, season with salt and pepper, tossing to coat. Set aside.

3. To blanch the collards, bring a pot of water to a boil, hold onto the stem, and dip the collard leaf into the water, submerging it completely until it turns bright green and begins to droop. Set aside to cool. Once collards have cooled, remove the stem and lower half of the middle rib, making sure to keep leaf as intact as possible.

4. To assemble, lay a collard leaf flat with the underside facing up. Spoon rice onto the middle, and spread evenly, keeping at least 1 inch from the edge. Next, arrange marinated vegetables on top, and sprinkle with cilantro leaves. Fold in the sides an inch, and roll from the bottom edge, tucking in the sides as needed. Continue with remaining collard leaves.

5. Cut the burritos in half, and serve with guacamole and salsa, if desired.

-Allison Gratton of Gypsy Juice Wellness

Per Serving (without guacamole): 341 calories; 8.5 grams protein; 60 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams sugar; 10 gram fat;

0 milligrams cholesterol; 655 milligrams sodium; 8 milligrams dietary fiber.

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Sour Pickles

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Makes 3 to 4 pounds of pickles

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3 to 4 pounds unwaxed small cucumbers, rinsed gently

6 tablespoons sea salt

3 to 4 tablespoons fresh or dried dill

2 to 3 heads garlic, peeled

1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak, or

horseradish leaves

(if available)

1 pinch black peppercorns

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1. Dissolve sea salt in ½ gallon of water to create brine solution. Stir until salt is thoroughly dissolved.

2. Clean a ceramic crock, canning jar, or food-grade plastic bucket, then place dill, garlic, fresh grape leaves, and peppercorns at the bottom. Add cucumbers, and, finally, pour in the brine.

3. If using a crock or bucket, place a clean plate on top, then weigh it down with a jug filled with water. If the brine doesn't cover the weighed-down plate, add more brine mixed at the same ratio of just under 1 tablespoon of salt to each cup of water.

4. Cover the crock with a cloth to keep out dust, and store it in a cool place. Check it every day, and skim any mold from the surface. (If there's mold, be sure to rinse the plate and weight.) Taste the pickles after a few days. Enjoy the pickles as they continue to ferment. After one to four weeks, the pickles will be fully sour. Move them to the fridge to slow down fermentation.

-From Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

Per pickle: 17 calories; 1 gram protein; 4 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams sugar; trace fat; no cholesterol; 236 milligrams sodium; 1 gram dietary fiber.

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