Originally published Saturday, June 21, 1997

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

In a quiet corner of Snohomish County, where the soil is black and fertile, the Love Israel commune is preparing for a bumper crop of sun-ripened tomatoes, artichokes, garlic, salad greens, herbs and raspberries.

While much of it will be picked, packed and trucked to the Pike Place Market, some of the bounty will be routed to one of Seattle's largest law firms.

Fifty lawyers and staffers at Perkins Coie have signed up to receive a summer-long supply of produce from three Market farmers at a weekly cost of about $24 per person.

"It seems so much more personal than going to QFC or Safeway," says Sue Whiddon, a Perkins Coie secretary.

The "Market Basket" pilot project is one of several new initiatives aimed at strengthening the bond between downtown residents and workers, the 90-year-old Pike Place Market and its farmers.

The Market's status as Seattle's premier provider of food is being challenged like never before. Not only are gourmet-minded grocery stores muscling in, but small neighborhood farmers markets are sprouting across Western Washington.

On the outside, the Market district has never looked better. The high-stall vegetable displays and seafood, so carefully assembled each morning, create a mosaic of fresh food. But don't let the merchandising fool you: This is a working market, the oldest in the United States, and everything is for sale.

The banter of fishmongers, the snap and pop of grocery sacks give the place a cacophony, worsened or improved depending on your point of view by the soulful tunes of street musicians playing for spare change.

The smell of exotic foods and spices tickles the senses along with the scent of fresh flowers, leather belts, baked treats from Piroshky, Piroshky, garlic-infused foods from Cucina Fresca and heavenly fruit wraps at Crepe De France.

Outside on Pike Place, cars, trucks, jaywalkers and a few inebriates are thrown together in a daily jumble of activity.

Below the Market, gulls wheel and mooch as a succession of ferries parade in and out of Elliott Bay.

Despite its beauty, character and history -- or perhaps because of it -- the Market is fighting to retain its standing with local shoppers. Its supporters worry that unless habits change, it is in danger of becoming another quaint district selling baubles to tourists, instead of sustenance to a hungry city.