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CONTACT US AT P.O. BOX 1027, ATHENS, GA 30603, LETTERS@FLAGPOLE.COM
OR VIA THE “TALK BACK TO US” LINK AT FLAGPOLE.COM
FARMERS’MARKET RESPONSE
The focus of the Athens Farmers' Market
is, first and foremost, to provide the citizens
of Athens with high quality, healthy and deli
cious food grown by local farmers using sus
tainable methods. Briefly, the market defines
local as: all produce sold must be grown by
farmers who reside within a 26-county area
surrounding Clarke County; sustainable means
no synthetic pes
ticides, herbicides
or fertilizers are
used. The methods
employed by all
of the growers are
designed to build the
soils so that agricul
ture on these lands
can be sustained ver
sus depleting the soils and requiring increas
ing amounts of fertilizer and other chemicals.
To ensure the market has enough produce
for the growing demand from the Athens com
munity, a number of new farmers were added
this year, and each returning farmer increased
production. Once the primary mission of the
market was addressed, the Board of Directors
worked diligently to offer interesting features
for our patrons and to support local artists,
craftspersons and prepared food purveyors.
The market has live music performed by local
musicians every week, often a cooking demo
by a local chef, prepared food from a number
of local restaurants and caterers, several local
artisans and free space for three to four local
non-profit organizations such as P.L.A.C.E.,
Master Gardeners and the Athens branch of
Habitat for Humanity. Finally, there is a local
coffee roaster that sells freshly roasted coffee
beans and fresh brewed coffee. This wonder
ful combination of offerings makes for a
very pleasant and full market every Saturday
morning.
Due to the numerous additional vendors in
the market this year, the Board of Directors
has been forced to make some difficult deri
sions regarding a
number of applicants
and has stopped
accepting new
applications for this
season. Two critical
considerations in dis
allowing Jittery Joe's
application to the
market this year are
that the vendor space is already very crowded
during many Saturday markets, and a second
coffee vendor would deny the opportunity for
other vendors who may have desirable prod
ucts not currently offered.
Jittery Joe's is highly regarded in the
Athens community and by the Athens Farmers'
Market, and their altruism is widely recog
nized. As was pointed out in the complaint
[Letters, July 15], they are a very success
ful business. The current coffee vendor in
the market has been a member and a spon
sor since our opening day in 2008 and is by
comparison just getting started. As was also
stated the current market coffee vendor is on
the Board of Directors. However, there are two
directors who are friends of the Jittery Joe's
ownership and the remaining four directors
are farmers. The vote to ask Jittery Joe's to
wait and apply again for 2010 was made only
after extensive discussion. Actually, Jittery
Joe's has made only one application for space
since the market opened last year, and that
was this spring, several weeks into the 2009
market season.
Regarding the selling of coffee by
BikeAthens: BikeAthens was a guest of
P.L.A.C.E. and had not informed the market
that they were going to offer the Jittery Joe's
coffee. All non-profit organizations are asked
not to sell products that compete with ven
dors whose livelihoods depend on their sales
at the market.
Jay Payne, President
Athens Farmers' Market Board of Directors
SEXY FLYER = LAME
Concerning The Starter Kits' recent neon
green flyer featuring the contour-line drawing
of a naked lady: quite eye-catching, provoca
tive, and necessitating removal from certain
family-friendly eating establishments due to
certain offended patrons. Dudes, take heed: I
was wondering if maybe on a future flyer you
could depict the nude male form at a jaunty
angle, too? I realize that no amount of angry
feminist bitching will put a stop to the exploi
tation of the female body for marketing all
manner of consumables, so I feel that, in fair
ness, an acceptable compromise would involve
seeing just as many exposed balls as there are
titties in the media. Equal opportunity objec
tification, you know?
Stacey-Marie Piotrowski
Athens
OPEN LETTER: GOLDMAN SACHS
Ladies and Gentlemen: I just read the stun
ning news that Goldman Sachs intends to use
11.2 billion dollars to issue bonuses to its
employees. I am appalled.
At the very least, to exhibit such disregard
for the 7,000,000 Americans desperately seek
ing employment to meet the basic needs of
their families shows not only your greed, but
also your extreme insensitivity to the plight of
the world during these turbulent times.
I, for one, see no need for institutions like
Goldman Sachs and am glad I will never have
to use your "services." Given the immediacy
of the Internet and the ease with which any
one with basic math skills can access finan
cial information, Wall Street and its cronies
seem somewhat of an anachronism. I think
the natural course of events over the past
several months has demonstrated this rather
dramatically.
How you people can sleep at night is
beyond me! I hope something of real value,
more valuable than cash, will, at some point,
infect your lives and turn your thinking
around. In the meantime, enjoy your ill-
gained "riches." You look rather absurd to the
rest of us.
Joseph S. Causey
Athens
BUMPERSTICKER OF THE WEEK:
: My Other Car Is a Yoga Mat
Send your sticker sightings to ben@flag-
pole.com or call 706-549-9523. Thanks.
Aim
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MATTRESS
DIRECT
Haverty’s |
Atlanta Hwy. ^ 1/2 mite torn Mali
Barrett Dodge
4124 Atlanta Hwy • Dircctlv across from Barrett Dodge
706-613-5222
www.mattressdirectathens.com
Open‘7 days • Mon-S.it 10-7 • Sun 12-5
2 r - FLAGP(M;CQM^ JULY-22,2009-