Although it’s counterintuitive, one of the most overlooked aspects of living somewhere different, is food acquisition. What do you do once the sparkle of new restaurants and street foods fade, your wallet is light, and your belly longs for something wholesome and home cooked? Where do you find fresh, local goods, or ethically farmed produce?
In Sejong City (세종시), you can head to the 싱싱장터 Fresh Market. Sejong has a popular program that hits all of the sweet spots- local farmers, local meat and produce, organic, pesticide free, high quality agriculture products all at great prices.
Started in 2012 with the founding of the city, there are currently four markets (and a mobile market truck), located in different districts of Sejong. To consumers, the facilities resemble a grocery store, but also include additional functions such as class space, where entrepreneurship, cooking, and other related subjects can be taught. The markets include over 1000 growers from the region. The top two markets serve 3500 people per day with over 43k members served per year.
The program is centered around 6 guiding principles:
- Fresh goods direct from the farmers
- Trustworthy products
- Better pay for farmers, better prices for customers (싱싱장터 only gets 10% for operation)
- Reduce food mileage
- Maintain Korean food sovereignty
- Support and improve the local economy
Oversight of the program is headed by the city. This includes strict guidelines and quality controls. Working hand in hand with the farmer, the program assists with price setting, variety and freshness, grading and quality with both the farmer and customer in mind. Grade and weight are carefully monitored, and rigid standards for freshness include thresholds for harvest date and sale date. For example, lettuces must be sold within one day.
To make all of this possible, there are incredible workings behind the scenes. That includes farm inspections, education and training, storage, logistics and transportation. This even includes a truck to pick up produce from the farms too small to have their own delivery options.
We love Fresh Market 싱싱장터 because it supports local agriculture in multiple ways. For local farmers, it provides a direct-to-consumer farmer’s market environment on a daily basis. Each farmer sets their prices according to certain criteria, and customers can see who the farmer is as well as any certifications or awards they have received. The program helps develop and sell delicious and safe products directly to consumers.
For customers, it operates daily like a supermarket, providing a clean, well maintained facility. Prices are reasonable and marked clearly. All of the produce is fresh and must be harvested and sold within a specific timeline, all other processed products have similar criteria. The range of products is excellent, providing a one stop grocery store for most of your seasonal meal needs. Grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, mushrooms, flowers, and freshly made Korean side dishes line the shelves.
To put it plainly, this is a win-win system we need to see more often! In a future post, we’ll take a look behind the scenes at the systems and logistics that make it all work.