Caramel Corn to Basil

The Oakland Farmer's Market at Jack London Square

By Peggy Vincent

The smell of caramel corn tempted my nose long before my family and I reached the blue umbrellas shading the vendors' stands of the Oakland Farmer's Market.

I chanted my mantra, "I won't, I won't, I won't," as we detoured past the stall. All around us, people with blissful smiles reached into plastic bags the size of plump sofa cushions and popped handfuls of lightly caramelized kernels into their mouths.

"I won't, I won't, I won't," I said again, but it sure smelled good!

Operating year round, Oakland's Sunday Farmers' Market sprawls in a casually organized way along the waterfront at historic Jack London Square. Bookstores, restaurants, art galleries and gift shops line one side of the wharf. On the other side, kayaks, red and green tugboats, ferry boats heading for San Francisco and millionaires' three-story yachts cruise up and down the estuary. The mournful sound of an Amtrak train down the coast makes little kids run to wave at the engineer. In the middle of the market a fountain splashes, and there's usually a Jamaican man with dreadlocks and a smile as shiny as his steel drum playing reggae music that makes everyone within earshot grin along with him.

The Farmer's Market is an ideal place for parents with children of any age to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday. There's plenty for the kids to look at, tidbits of food to sample – peaches, nuts, strawberries, crackers with a smorgasbord of dips, sausages, watermelon, fresh breads and bagels and much more – pigeons to chase, grass to roll on, other children to stare at and an international mix of people speaking their native languages. When I visited, I heard Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese and Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian and a few that I didn't recognize. Mentally, I matched the different languages to the food: churros, ravioli, pastries, fried rice, sushi, pad Thai and samosas. These ethnic food offerings broaden my children's palates, just as exposure to people of other races and cultures broadens their minds.

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