2009.08.10
Winners, winners everywhere!
I know that many of you are anxiously waiting to find out who won our Crabbiest Cook contest. And I'm getting to that, but first I want to announce that Virginia fared very well in American Farmland Trust's farmers market contest.
American Farmland Trust asked Americans to vote online for their favorite farmers market, and more than 30,000 votes poured in from around the country. The markets were separated into small (1-30 vendors), medium (31-55 vendors) and large (56 plus). The winner of the three categories were:
Small: Collingswood Farmers Market, Collingswood, NJ
Medium: Williamsburg Farmers Market, Williamsburg, VA
Large: Davis Farmers Market, Davis, CA
In addition to the Williamsburg market, several Virginia markets placed in the top 20, including the Roanoke Farmers Market, which placed in the "medium" category. Also honored were markets in Fairfax, Virginia Beach, Yorktown and Goochland. In the interest of full disclosure, I am pretty sure that not every farmers market in existence was on the list of markets for which you could vote. The Roanoke market was the only one that popped up when I looked to see which ones we could vote for in the Roanoke area. Maybe the smaller ones will make it on to the list by this time next year.
At any rate, I'm proud to live in one of the top-ranking states in that survey. Only California had more markets on the list, which just further supports my personal opinion that Southwest Virginia is one of the best local food regions in the country.
And now for the Crabbiest Cook....
It was difficult to decide who crabbed the best for this contest. You were all so very, very crabby. From a lack of cabinets or counter space to ungrateful relatives who would rather sit on their bums than help out, you guys had a lot to whine about. But my co-workers and I felt that one person best summed up a situation that would drive all of us into extreme crabbiness. And that is Pete Haislip, who wrote simply:
I get crabby when I spend 2 hours in the kitchen cooking an awesome meal and my 14 year old comes in and opens a can of ravioli to eat.
Pete, we really feel your pain. And if an Old Bay beach bag will make you feel any better, it's yours. All you need to do is e-mail your shipping address to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.
This was a very fun contest. Thanks, everyone, for all of the crabby responses.
