New city market has a name

How does "7venth Public Market" strike you? That's apparently the name for the planned city market in the old Reid's space in 7th Street Station. (And yes, my first impulse is to ask "what were the first six?" Are we counting forward from the 1890s when farm wagons still parked along Trade Street?)

Last night's public open house drew about 30 people to mill around and scribble thoughts and suggestions about what they want the market to be on long sheets of white paper.

The idea for a public food market has been around for years, but now it's drawing closer to the planned October opening. For one building, the market is already holding a lot of goals. Dr. Dan Murrey ran down the list: In keeping with support from Carolinas Healthcare System, it's supposed to bring better food access to underserved urban areas and Charlotte's food deserts. It's supposed to be a business incubator for local products. And it's supposed to focus attention on local and regional foodways. He even mentioned the idea of a library with used cookbooks.

Walking around to look at the notes people scribbled, here are some of what people are thinking: Under "We've Been Told These Things Are Important . . . " people wrote:
"Wine and Beer." "Oh yeah!"
"Butcher." "Absolutely."
"NC/SC Fish and Seafood."
"SC/NC Berries."
"Tamales."
"Breads." "Gluten-free."
"Pizza." (Crossed out.)
"Local Wine and Beer."
"Spices and Herbs."
"BBQ (Make sure it's from Mac's.)"
"Local Meat."
"NC Food Crafters."
"Shared-Use Kitchen or Kitchen Incubator."
"Cheesemonger."
"Tacos and Papusas."

My favorite, though, was a comment on another sheet: "Let's make the notion of 'local' disappear and replace it with 'normal.'"

Now that's an intriguing thought.