The Farmers' Market
A podcast featuring Kid Sister Chef Isaac Mendoza and Bene Vivendo Owner Emily Heller. It was recorded at the Uptown Farmers' Market. This story delves into the community around local produce.
For many Phoenix residents, the Farmers’ market provides a hub for community ties and locally grown produce. Each weekend, stand owners and shoppers gather at the Uptown Market to share their love of food.
Among those leading the push for local food is Emily Heller, owner of Bene Vivendo Farm, who believes markets like Uptown help Phoenicians reconnect with what they eat. For growers and shoppers alike, buying local has become a way to nourish both the community and the land that sustains it.
“The locally grown food system is a critical and essential part of human health, and it's not something that's just sort of nice to have,” Heller said. “We must have it.”
Though Heller’s farm is small-scale, she said that participation in the local food system is an honor and a privilege.
“I'm growing for you, Heller said. “And that fills me with purpose, and it fills you with foods.”
For Isaac Mendoza, the Chef at Kid Sister, shopping locally is vital in creating his menu for the intimate neo-bistro.
An interactive map showing Kid Sister and the proximity to its purveyors.
When you buy local vegetables, “you can tell from the beginning stages of their growth, to getting the product in the restaurant, there's a lot of care to it,” Mendoza said. “And you can taste it.”
However, the food quality isn’t the only aspect that draws Chef Mendoza to the farmers’ market every weekend; the connection to local purveyors is equally important.
“Just as much as I take pride in my food when I put something on the menu,” Mendoza said. “They take a lot of pride in what they're doing or what they're growing.”
For farmers like Heller, chefs using her product is a flattering aspect of her trade.
“Chefs whose artistry with locally grown things just engages people in a way that I will never be able to,” Heller said. “Because I'm a grower, not a chef.”
The small kitchen and dining room at Kid Sister make it easier for Mendoza to use local produce. Since he doesn’t have to order 50 pounds of squash at a time, he said, it’s better to order from farmers like Emily who put more care into their product.
“When we have the opportunity to be so close in proximity to something like the market here in Uptown,” Mendoza said. “I think it's a tool we should utilize.”
This dedication to shopping locally benefits both the chef and the farmer.
Heller said she’s “really proud to be able to supply Isaac with the ingredients that he needs to work his magic.”
As farmers and chefs continue to rely on one another, the farmers’ market remains the foundation of Phoenix’s local food movement.