Making Local More Accessible . . . With Your Help

No matter how accessible the world is as a result of digital communications there’s nothing better than finding things that are “as good as it gets” and available locally; just down the street  or across town. The Haile Village Farmers’ Market is, as anyone who has read my postings already knows, one of my favorite places to shop locally. Local produce, coffee, eggs, milk and cheese are sold alongside locally made candies, breads and pastries and ethnic entrees and sides.

Some of the vendors have expanded their cottage industries to become commercial businesses and their products are available more widely. One vendor who wants to do this is Nana Pat's Goodies who makes some fine mustard! As I have said previously, I am not a mustard guy, or I was not. But if your mustard-concepts come from visits to baseball games in the 1950s where bright yellow mustard slathered on steamed hot dogs was the standard and you haven’t progressed beyond an occasional Grey Poupon commercial or Gulden’s Spicy Brown, then it’s time to become more adventuresome and Pat would like to make it easier to do so.
I, the former, non-mustard kinda guy, would not be without one of Nana Pat’s varieties in the ‘frig. Doesn’t take much to edge a good roast beef sandwich into being a great one, especially if it’s made with flavorful, homemade bread! Adding her mustard to a roll filled with sausage and ‘kraut amplifies the savory goodness. And she even makes a bicycle related mustard using Fat Tire Beer!

Nana Pat’s Goodies are available every Saturday morning in The Village of Haile and her customer base is comprised of people who recognize a quality product. Pat and that guy who hangs out with her are moving toward going commercial, but would like to have some financial assistance with an initial run of their product and have chosen to take a digital route. GoFundMe is one of those online enterprises that presents ideas and seeks funds to provide financial support to turn the idea into a reality. Unlike telecom before the ’00 crash, Nana Pat’s idea is not vaporware, it’s a tangible, honest product that she’d like to make more accessible. The upside to seeking funding this way is that she doesn’t have to plunge into debt to a lending institution. The upside to everyone else is greater access to her culinary skills.

Nana Pat’s request, along with a brief video can be found on the GoFundMe site at GoFundMe.com/i288xg. I should add that she isn’t looking for tens of thousands of dollar to make a levitating mustard, just a few thou' to defray costs for a substantial initial production run of her most popular flavor, "Midnight Oil Stout Molasses Mustard". Made with Midnight Oil Stout, a dark beer produced by local brewery, Swamp Head, it's thick and rich, with coffee and oatmeal notes that come from the top quality ingredients the folks at Swamp Head Brewery use.

Like local stuff? Good place to consider doing something locally.