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Little Rock and Central Arkansas Farmer's Markets and Local Eating

Support Local Farmers

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The River Market Farmer's Market

The River Market Farmer's Market (More photos)

Amanda Galiano
Eating local has become the new call to arms among environmentalists and health nuts everywhere. Eating local has several advantages: normally the food is fresher because it's harvested nearby and needs no preservatives or chemicals, you learn to eat seasonally when foods taste best, you support your local economy and local foods have a lower carbon footprint because they don't need to be transported as far and oftentimes, small farms are more likely to use environmentally friendly processes than larger, mass market farms. There's a book titled, "Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet" by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon that gives more insight into the movement or you can check out About's Local Foods site.

Since Arkansas is an agricultural state, we have plenty of opportunities to eat locally or, as they say, become a locavore. Even in the big city of Little Rock, there are opportunities to support local agriculture.

Farmer's Markets

  • Certified Arkansas Farmer's Market (CAFM) -
    The Certified Arkansas Farmer's Market (CAFM) is a “source verified” market. All vendors have been inspected to verify that they are the source of the product they are selling. Nothing outside of Arkansas can be sold at the market. It's the easiest way to be assured of local food.

    In 2012, the market is open from Saturday, April 14 thru September in downtown North Little Rock's Argenta district on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. - 12 p.m.

    Directions: The Argenta district is located in downtown North Little Rock, not far from Verizon Arena. The Farmer's Market is at 6th and Main Streets. (Map)

    For the off season, they have an online version of the market and also the basket-a-month program (see below). The online version gets bigger every year.

  • River Market Farmer's Market -
    Located in the Little Rock Farmer's Market, there is no requirement to be locally grown to have a booth here. Many local farmers do display their goods at this market and those vendors normally display the "Arkansas Grown" logo. This market normally has a larger variety than the CAFM.

    Directions: Located in the River Market on 400 President Clinton Ave in downtown Little Rock, AR. The farmer's market is hosted in the pavilions closest to the river. You can't miss it. Map.

    Open every Tuesday and Saturday, May thru October from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.

  • Hillcrest Farmers Market -
    New this year, in the Pulaski Heights Baptist Church parking lot(2200 Kavanaugh). All locally produced items, From May through September, 7 a.m. until noon. They have special events on Sundays starting as early as March.
  • Other, less expansive, markets: Maumelle has a small farmer's market at 449 Millwood Circle, in a parking lot. The "Arkansas Home Grown Market" can be found on 8700 N. Rodney Parham in the church parking lot. The YWCA at 1200 S Cleveland sometimes has a small produce market too. They generally tend to open up around April, like the bigger Farmer's Markets.
  • Review Local Farmer's Markets and Vendors
Basket-A-Month Programs (CSA)
The BAM program has been phased out due, in part, to the popularity of the Certified Arkansas Farmer's Market and partly due to the Argenta Market.. The Argenta Market
Located at 521 North Main Street, the Argenta Market features a mix of locally grown foods and pantry staples. They support local growers whenever possible, and have some prepared foods for purchase too. Restaurants Serving Local Foods
There are some restaurants that strive to use local foods whenever possible. A few them are listed below. If you know of a restaurant that uses local foods for most of their menu choices, email me and let me know.

Some of these are pretty pricey, but a few of them are bargains.

Local Meats & Dairy
Most from grass fed animals. Some are certified-organic, but some small farms cannot afford to be certified, but still raise their animals organically. Local Grains
  • War Eagle Mill - Organic grains ground locally on water-powered stone buhr mill.
Local Produce and Orchards
Local Food Festivals

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