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Iris Peppard/Everyone's Harvest Named Director of Carmel Artisan Market

The already long road to bringing a farmers market to Carmel stretched longer when the ad hoc committee formed to appoint a director had to delay their decision, scheduled for last week, because of an unanticipated city rule.

That rule: Carmel's Community Action and Cultural Committee has to approve the ad hoc committee's recommendation.

That won't come until Feb. 19, but the CACC isn't about to tell the ad hoc group, which includes the town's mayor Jason Burnett and food justice angel Eric Schlosser, to reconsider.

So it's unofficially official, says ad hoc committee chair and City Councilwoman Victoria Beach: The organization they're recommending to manage the most anticipated farmers market the area's ever seen is Everyone's Harvest run by Iris Peppard.

"I would assume that recommendation would have a lot of weight," Beach says.

Everyone's Harvest currently runs the Alisal, Marina, Natividad Hospital and Pacific Grove markets, in addition to the Farm Stand at CSUMB.

"[Our committee] really liked how embedded she was in the community," Beach says.

Beach also cited Peppard's motives for "for being involved in this part of our food culture."

"She's all about access to healthy food, advocacy for the farmers and bringing that quality of food to people," Beach says.

Beach does hasten to add that the Carmel community's expectations will make it a demanding gig.

"This will require her to go above and beyond a regular market," Beach says. "We want to alert the community she's going to need some help."

Peppard's excited to take the steering committee's vision and make it a reality, but also bracing for a demanding fundraising responsibility: "I'll be even more excited when we find the funding for what they want to be done," she says.

She's planning on collaborating with Carmel businesses to complement the all certified-organic farmers—"I want it to be very foodie-centric," she says—and even envisioning a permanent living earth structure in the Sunset Center parking lot to help house the vendors.