As a student in Kingston, it can sometimes be hard to step out of the ‘bubble’ and discover all that our city has to offer. Once we have ventured past the last crushed red solo cup on Brock and fluttering tricolour flag, we enter a Kingston uncharted and unknown. There is a whole host of treasures that blow my Metro-trained mind, and Main Street Market is definitely one of those gems.
Main Street Market is an urban food distributor that supports local agriculture, and seeks to improve the connection between eaters, farmers, the local economy and the environment.They are an urban CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) organisation, supplying weekly produce baskets containing delicious herbs, vegetables, and fruit to Kingstonians, even offering ‘Green Delivery’ by bike. Main Street Market also consciously sources their goods from local and organic farms and businesses – something that we at Oxfam support with all our hearts. (See our LOFT (Local Organic Fair Trade) post for more info)
And if that wasn’t enough, they support local food programs, community gardening, and provide hands-on agricultural and nutrition education and training – Does Scything 101 or Shiitake Mushroom Cultivating sound interesting to you?
They can be found at the Memorial Centre Farmer’s Market (open Sundays 9-2 late May – late October (303 York Street)
St Mary’s of the Lake pop-up market Wednesdays 9-3 (340 Union St)
John’s Deli (507 Princess Street)
Ohhh, and I may have just stumbled across the ‘House Concerts’ section of their website – Who doesn’t want to eat vegan pear pie, drink fair-trade coffee and listen to beautiful folk singers? It’s actually not a question.
Thanks, Kingston – your unused guard towers must actually be used to harbour amazing organizations such as Main Street Market. I can’t wait to see what other well-kept secrets there are to discover. 
Information from http://mainstreetmarket.ca/en/
Like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Main.Street.Market.Kingston
Ethical Eats 