Robert's Market Report

Fair Food Move Advances

Much of the funding is in place for the Fair Food Farmstand's move to the 12th Street side of the Reading Terminal Market, according to RTM GM Paul Steinke.

In addition to the previously reported grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the SVF Foundation of Newport, R.I., is kicking in a substantial proportion of the needed funds. The SVF foundation is largely the creation of Campbell Soup heiress Dodo Hamilton. Its primary mission is to help protect the world's food supply by preserving rare and endangered breeds of livestock, and it sees Fair Food's mission as complementing its goals. The SVF Foundation has a history of supporting efforts of the White Dog Foundation (Fair Food's parent organization) furthering the marketing of heritage breed farm animals. SVF is based at Swiss Village Farm in Newport, where Hamilton maintains a home. Much of SVF's breed preservation work is done in conjunction with the Tufts University veterinary medicine school.

Steinke said about 75 percent of Fair Food's moving costs appear to be covered through these and other grants. Much of the remainder will probably come in the form of a low-interest loan from the Reading Terminal Market Corporation, the non-profit organization which runs the market. Similar loans have been made to other vendors at the market for improvements.