Behind the Scenes

Pike Place Market – Seattle

Brownfield’s Tom Steever was in Seattle last week to cover the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting.  While there, he ventured out to the Pike Place Market:

At the point where Downtown Seattle meets the waterfront is some of the most authentic shopping there is. Pike Place Market opened 102 years ago and offers some of the most diverse, colorful merchandise around. Understandably, it’s built around the fresh fish trade and remains true to that; there are four fresh fish stands there. But equally as evident are fresh meat, fruits, vegetables and flowers, all plunked among funky shops, artisans, and restaurants in an extraordinarily casual setting with surprisingly little adornment. But who needs adornment in the midst of this?

“Fish is our bounty,” fish monger Chris Bell told me, “where you guys harvest in the Midwest, the Breadbasket of America, we’ve got our fish.”

One is bound to see fish flying through the air at the market. It’s actually fish being thrown from one monger to another. “That started out of pure laziness,” says Bell, referring to the tossed fish. “Once we sell a fish, we’ve got about a 30-foot walk to walk it around to the scale, so it’s a direct shot, we just shoot it up to each other, and of course it’s really fun; it’s become what we’re known for.” It’s in addition to the meat, fruit and vegetables that are just as fresh.

Just across the street from the market is the coffee shop that started it all. The original Starbucks enjoys a very unassuming spot among other unassuming establishments in that block.

-Tom Steever