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“Produce Pusher” lines Maude Bauschard’s business cards. Bauschard left Washington, D.C. after nine years working as a grass-roots organizer in federal legislation, returning to St. Louis to open the eponymously named market in Dutchtown at 4219 Virginia Avenue, two blocks south of Grand. A family farm in Warrenton drew Bauschard back to the area, and Maude's Market is in part a project to test the local food movement waters before she turns to farming herself. Located between the Tower Grove and Carondelet neighborhoods, the market, which opened in 2010, serves surrounding communities and accepts EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) payments. While the neighborhood has its fair share of crime—the playful title on her business card is her response to pushers of a different kind in the area—Bauschard hopes that if and when the economy improves, the neighborhood will undergo the same revitalization around it, and healthy, local products will become standard fare.
The market carries goods—produce, eggs, meat, cheese, honey, pasta, rice, condiments, soaps, and more—primarily from local producers, including Cock & Bull Farms, Marcoot Jersey Creamery, Todd Geisert Farms, Midwest Pasta Company, Pappy’s Gourmet, Companion, and River City Savories, to name only a few. Some of the meat sold at the market carries the “Animal Welfare Approved” certification, including free-range geese from Sassafras Valley Farm in Gasconade County. Those geese are popular at Christmas time, and the market stocks Heritage Turkeys at Thanksgiving as well, one of few local sources for the prized birds.
Much of the market’s business comes from its CSA program. Currently Bauschard has 60 members and hopes to increase that number by word-of-mouth and cross promotions, for example with St. Louis Fitness Club members participating in a special boot camp. Both seasonal (weekly) and monthly CSA memberships are available, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. See the website, blog, and newsletter for more details on both plans, which can be started at any time. Recipes updated for the season can also be found on the blog with tips about how to use the CSA’s goods (sample box below).
The market’s charm turned to something more substantial as Bauschard explained how she hopes to be part of the area youths’ education. She drew an apt analogy between the growing awareness surrounding healthy eating and gardening and recycling: education often begins with the young, who then pass that knowledge along to their families, persuading their parents that it’s important to eat healthily. She remembers “fondly being introduced to the concept of recycling” when she was in grade school. As she spoke of the permaculture garden adjacent to the market, her long conversations about the color of poultry when it suffers from muscle atrophy (purple, by the way) with her producers, or the recent Honey Harvest and Bee Banquet that she hopes to turn into an annual event, Bauschard’s passion for sustainable, local, healthy food shone through, illustrating that even a small market can have a large, significant impact.
Photos courtesy of Maude Bauschard.
