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TEAM 2: Elaine Eff and Mike Weikert

Elaine Eff is Maryland’s state folklorist, a title she shares with a handful of colleagues. She has plied her trade since 1985 for Baltimore City, the Maryland Historical Trust, and the Painted Screen Society and as an advisor for myriad films, exhibitions, oral history projects, and public programs. She co-directs Maryland Traditions, a program of the Maryland State Arts Council with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts that builds statewide folklife infrastructure through partnerships to sustain, document, and celebrate local culture.

Mike Weikert is director of the Center for Design Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and principal of Weikert Design. He is also the creator of Small Roar, a line of graphic baby clothes. Previously, he was co-chair of the undergraduate graphic design department at MICA, partner/creative director at Atlanta-based Iconologic, and a design consultant to the International Olympic Committee.

photo by Lisa Van Horn

A Long Shot

Two prized Baltimore icons are in danger of extinction: arabbers, produce vendors selling from horse-drawn carts, and Pimlico, the historic race track that serves as the home of the annual Preakness Stakes. To add to the city’s concerns, many neighborhoods lack supermarkets with nutritious food choices. This phenomenon leads to disturbing health statistics among residents who live in urban food deserts.

There has been much discussion and debate about what to do with each issue: Since 1994, the Arabber Preservation Society has labored to help existing arabbers stay in business; more recently, advocates such as Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks have proposed several approaches to using arabbers to address the city’s food desert problem. But what if these troubled traditions could be addressed by a single solution?

Arabber horses, stabled and managed properly at Pimlico, could be integral to a lively food-centered education and entertainment destination for locals and tourists alike. Harnessing creative energy and available resources, we could transform our underappreciated arabbers and underutilized Pimlico and develop a successful model for supplying neighborhoods with local, healthy food.

This public facility will find a home for the horses while breathing life into old Pimlico. Such a plan not only celebrates and commemorates the history and contributions of these Baltimore traditions, but also creates a sustainable model where each could stabilize, grow, and prosper. This model could also create jobs and educational opportunities within the city, while offering a solution to the current food crisis that contributes to residents’ poor diet and health. This is not such a long shot, is it?