It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, I took that phrase from a Christmas song, but late summer is also a wonderful time of the year. It is the height of the farmer’s market season with a bounty of beautiful fresh vegetables and fruits.
I am not much of a gardener. I have a small area of my yard where I grow a few varieties of tomatoes, two or three different colors of bell peppers, Brussels sprouts (if the bugs don’t eat them first!), kale, and a few herbs. Gardening is not a passion of mine. That’s where the farmer’s markets enter my life. They are my gardeners. They plant, grow, weed, water, and cultivate their amazing produce. I get to enjoy an endless variety of local and fresh vegetables and fruits without the time required to do it myself. The vegetables and fruit that are at my disposal at the farmer’s market were picked the night before or the very morning I bought them, and are so much more delicious and enjoyable than eating produce that has been on the grocery shelves for days. That’s a win/win for me – no work and I can still reap the benefits!
Not only can I reap the benefits without the work, it just makes good sense. Buying from farmers’ markets is good for the local economy. A series of studies done by Civic Economies revealed that for every dollar spent at a big box store, about 15₵ stays in the area, whereas a dollar spent at a locally owned business, including at farmers markets, keeps 30-45₵ in the area.[i] Studies have also found food often costs less at a farmer’s market than from a supermarket.[ii] Stores located near farmer’s markets also benefit from the increased foot traffic in the area. Local governments benefit from increased sales tax revenue. Farmer’s markets can help revive neighborhoods and bring fresh produce into food deserts. It also brings jobs. For students who like being outdoors, working for a small production farmer, whether it be at the farmers market or in the fields, is the perfect job and is also a great way to be introduced to how to run a business.
Supporting farmer’sc markets is also good for the environment. It eliminates numerous energy-consuming steps conventional farming requires to get food from the farm to our table. Typically, traditionally grown food travels 7-14 days from the time it is picked before arriving at the supermarket. Transporting food by air, plane, boat, and truck consumes energy. The food distribution chain consists of going from the farmer to a processing center and then is transported to a distribution center. From there it goes to the grocery store and finally to the consumer. Not the case when buying from the farmers market. Food is picked the night before or the morning of the market and travels generally fewer than 50 miles to the market and then goes home with the consumer. Another detriment to our environment when growing hundreds of acres of food is the pesticides and herbicides used. The process and cost of becoming certified organic causes many small operation growers to shy away from the laborious and costly process of becoming certified organic. However, unlike the large farming operations, food sold at farmers’ markets tends to have little or no pesticides even if not labeled as certified organic. If the use of pesticides is a concern to you, just ask the vendor. Fewer herbicides and pesticides, less transportation and refrigeration, and fewer carbon emissions all save on greenhouse gases.
Sound farming practices used by the dedicated farmers who grow food sold at farmer’s markets include crop rotation, multi-cropping (vs mono-cropping), mulching, composting, and homeopathic and other natural means of controlling pests. It is labor-intensive and weather conditions are not always working in the farmer’s favor. Hot, cold, wet, dry, storms and early frosts are all conditions farmers have to work through. In his cookbook, Farmer John’s Cookbook – The Real Dirt on Vegetables (not totally vegan), Farmer John describes the joy farming brings to him, “I don’t know if it was the lime or the biodynamic herbal sprays we used extensively last season or the subsoiling – but the soil has turned into something wonderfully different from last year’s cement. The ground is spongy, almost bouncy as you step on it – even after a rain, and even after it has been worked with the tractor. I am so glad to know that the roots of all the vegetables get to play around in that paradise. On some level, it’s got to make the plants happy. And maybe on some level, while you’re eating them, your vegetables will do the same for you.” His words are poetry to my ears and make me happy just reading them!
Farmers markets are a gathering place of like-minded people. It is rare that I go to a farmer’s market and not run into someone I know. And after living through this past year of isolation, it is a pleasure to catch up with friends safely outdoors that I haven’t seen for a while. It is also an opportunity to talk with the growers. What vegetable is this? How do you like to prepare it? What herbs or spices do you like to use on this vegetable? How many more weeks will you have this vegetable available? It is a wonderful way to get new preparation ideas and learn about a vegetable you may not be familiar with.
Take your children or grandchildren with you to the farmer’s market and make it a fun and educational excursion for them. This is a great way to introduce children to where their food comes from. A picky eater is more likely to try a new vegetable or fruit if they choose it themselves, and they see and talk to the grower.
A scavenger hunt would be a fun game to do with them at the market too. Write a few questions that need to be answered by them filling in the blank. What vegetable has seeds? What is a vegetable you have never tried before? What plant did you find that has leaves that can be eaten? Find a food you can eat raw. What vegetable at the market is orange? What vegetable grows underground? The child can fill in the answers themselves or ask the vendor for the answer if they don’t know it. When they complete all questions, let them choose something at the market for themselves. At the same time, you can be doing your own scavenger hunt. Make a list for yourself of items you hope to find at the farmers market and go from vendor to vendor looking for what is on your list. Did you find them all?
Local, seasonal, fresh, sustainable. Grown with care in fertile soil with few or no chemicals. All attributes of food found at farmer’s markets. All of what we love and embrace. Support the growers at the farmer’s markets in your area. A list of local farmer’s markets near you can be found at www.localfarmmarkets.org.
[i] Mitchell, Stacy. Independent Business. Key Studies on Big-Box Retail and Independent Business. July 2012. http://www.ilsr.org/key-studies-walmart-and-bigbox-retail/#1.
[ii] Piro, Rich, McCann, Nick. December 2009. Is Local Food More Expensive? A Consumer Price Perspective on Local and Non-Local Foods Purchased in Iowa. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/prices/pricces.pdf.
[i] Mitchell, Stacy. Independent Business. Key Studies on Big-Box Retail and Independent Business. July 2012. http://www.ilsr.org/key-studies-walmart-and-bigbox-retail/#1.
[ii] Piro, Rich, McCann, Nick. December 2009. Is Local Food More Expensive? A Consumer Price Perspective on Local and Non-Local Foods Purchased in Iowa. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/prices/prices.
