Designation Detr©it
Building A Healthy
Food Hu
Jackie Headapohl
Managing Editor
Renovations at Eastern Market help to drive Detroit's economy.
Left: Since its renova-
tion, Shed 3 has hosted
several special events
in the community.,
Below: As many as
40,000 people come to
Eastern Market each
Saturday.
rior to 2006, Detroit's East-
ern Market never really had
a chance to reach its full
potential. At that time, the
market was being managed by the
city. In fall of 2006, management was
transferred to the nonprofit Eastern
Market Corp. under lease terms with
the city. A few months later, Randall
Fogelman, 38, was hired as direc-
tor of special products. His mission:
manage renovation of the Nos. 2, 3
and 5 sheds and recruit new farmers
and vendors.
At first, says Fogelman, who has
since been promoted to vice presi-
dent of business development, it was
more like mission impossible because
he came into the project midway
through the renovation of Shed 2.
"Imagine changing an engine on an
airplane that was still flying," he said.
Shed 2 at Eastern Market had been
standing since 1891, although new
murals gave it somewhat of a facelift
in the 1970s. Fogelman managed
millions in capital improvements,
including a new concession stand in
the middle of the shed.
p
Fogelman was able to recruit more
vendors, including the first certified
organic grower, a baker who had
never been able to sell his bread
there before.
"The focus is on local growers in
Shed 2," he said, adding there are
very few dealers selling to farmers.
"It's a public market."
He also turned his attention to
specialty food vendors, something
he knows quite a bit about. Fogel-
man launched Detroit Spice Co. in
2000. The company sells six Detroit-
inspired spice mixes and hot sauces
online and in local stores. He estab-
lished a new specialty food vendor
category, and those vendors now
occupy the east and west wings of
Shed 2. There is currently a waiting
list of specialty food vendors hoping
to get in.
"We've got people selling jams,
jellies, salsa and pickles, the major-
ity of them are locally made," Fogel-
man said. "Eating locally has become
almost like an ad campaign. It goes
along with the `foodie movement.'
People are willing to pay more to buy
SPONSORED SECTION BY: Quicken Loans
Emit miffed to Amaze
local."
Buying local means more jobs for
Michigan farmers and a boost to the
economy. If every Michigan house-
hold spent just $10 of their weekly
food budget on Michigan-made or
Michigan-grown products, it would
put an additional $36 million per
week into the state's economy, ac-
cording to the Michigan Department
of Agriculture.
Continued on page 3
November 17 • 2011 1