Mexico City’s Mercado el 100

The Mercado el 100 is Mexico City’s newest weekly open-air market, or tianguis, and the first to offer locally produced, organic products. The market opened for the first time this past October. It’s a small but growing initiative that encourages sustainability and fair trade between local producers and consumers. Some of the products you can expect to find at the Mercado el 100 include jams, ready-made goods, eggs, dairy products, herbs, honey, fruit juices and nectars, flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables.

There’s no shortage of fresh produce markets in Mexico City, however most of what you’ll find in the city’s markets and tianguis comes from the Central de Abasto, an enormous wholesale produce market located in the city’s Iztapalapa borough. At around 800 acres, it’s one of the largest wholesale food markets in the world and the produce that arrives at the Centro de Abastos is shipped in from all over, whereas the produce and goods sold at the Mercado el 100 are all produced within 100 miles (160 km) of the city, hence the name Mercado el 100.

The Mercado el 100 is small but growing. Don’t show up expecting the same variety of products and busy atmosphere that you’ll find in the more traditional Mexican markets. When I visited this past weekend there were only around 10-12 stands selling fresh produce and ready-made goods. I spent some time wandering through, browsing the various products and snapping photos. The quality of the fruits and vegetables is excellent and visitors to the market are invited to sample many of the prepared foods. If you’re going to be in town, make it a point to show up and help support the local food movement in Mexico City.

The Mercado el 100 alternates between Parque Mexico (map), Plaza Rio de Janeiro (map) at Orizaba and Durango in Colonia Roma and the Casa de Francia (map) at Havre 15 in the Zona Rosa.

The market is scheduled to open Saturday, December 11th and Saturday, December 18th at the Casa de Francia location. Schedules and updates are available (in Spanish) on the Mercado el 100 website. www.mercadoel100.org

Photo: Laura Nazimiec