I’m guessing you have bought fruits and veggies from your local grocery store, right? Who hasn’t? Lately, my trips to the grocery store have been less than stellar, in fact, they have been downright disappointing. I find “fresh” fruits and vegetables have a shelf life of only a few days before they go bad. Or they are utterly tasteless. Not too long ago, I actually had to return meat not once, but twice because the meat was spoiled when I opened the package.
This happened to me too many times in the past until I stumbled on a great solution: Farmers Markets. For some strange reason, I had it in my head that I could not afford to shop at my local farmers market in my hometown. We were a family of four on a budget and it never occurred to me that shopping at my local farmers market would actually be more cost effective in many ways.
Before shopping farmers markets, I guess I was silly enough to believe my local grocery store’s claims that the food I was buying from them was fresh. Apparently, I didn’t know how fresh the food could actually be! I’ll never forget the first time I decided to try my local farmers market; I came home with some wonderful fruits and vegetables and I noticed two things right away:
- Everything was bursting with flavor, especially the fruits! It was such a treat for my taste buds to eat a just-picked-from-the-tree-the-day-before peach or nectarine. My taste buds practically exploded with pleasure!
- Everything lasted so much longer!!!! I’m putting many exclamation points after that sentence for extra emphasis because this was where cost-effectiveness comes in. On that first trip, I bought 3 heads of lettuce (we’re big salad eaters); I remember being absolutely amazed. By the end of the week, there was still a head of lettuce left in my crisper drawer and it was perfectly fine, not even wilted. As a matter of fact, that same head of lettuce was still there at the end of the second week – sure enough, not wilted. I thought it was just a one-time deal, but the next time I went to the market, I bought lettuce again and the same thing happened. I finally put two and two together (yes, it takes me a while) and realized I was actually buying genuinely fresh food that didn’t have to be thrown away due to spoilage.
I love that I am supporting family farmers by buying directly from them which gives them a better return on their produce. Also, food at a farmers market is transported shorter distances and is usually grown using methods that minimize the impact on the earth. It’s great to be able to buy seasonally grown foods and get in touch with the seasons again and discover which foods are available for each season. Most food is minimally processed and great care is taken by many farmers to grow the most nutritious of foods possible by using sustainable techniques.
Many farmers markets offer more than just meats and produce; I’ve seen booths featuring raw honey, homemade kombucha and other fermented products, oils, grass fed butter and cheeses, fish, eggs and many other products. Some farmers markets have vendors who sell jewelry, prepared food, massage sessions, etc.
And nine times out of ten, I run into someone I know in our community and get the chance to shoot the breeze with them for a few minutes while shopping. It’s also a great place to bring children and teach them the joys of whole food, how it’s grown, how to prepare, what it looks like.
Here’s a tip when you visit your farmers market: take the time to get to know the farmers. For the most part, they are wonderful people who will share all sorts of great information like recipes, how to store their produce safely and how they grow their produce.
Not every booth will be staffed by the farmers themselves but a lot of them will be there. About a month ago, one couple who sold certified organic fruits told me the story of their last state inspection that was quite rigorous, which assured me that they are in compliance with the regulations and the state is doing a great job of enforcing those regulations.
The egg lady at farmers market met my 23-year-old daughter ONE TIME about six months ago, and every single week she asks me about my daughter. What’s not to love???
If you want to find a farmers market near you, and I hope you do, go to http://www.localfarmmarkets.org/, click “start here” to locate the closest farmers market, and have fun. Happy shopping!
