The Gateway to Local Food: Farmers Markets

June 2011 Copley Square Farmers Market

The first seeds of the season (beets, carrots, dark leafy greens, radishes, ext.) are turning into seedlings already! How fast time flies when you are having fun..... March is long gone and May is close at hand. I wish my schedule allowed for time to take care of a garden of my own this season but luckily I will be working in the garden for my job with Waltham Fields Community Farm.

In honor of spring, my next few posts are going to focus on the different places you can obtain fresh and local food easily.  We are lucky to have an abundance of sources to make fresh food accessible. So many in fact, that it might be overwhelming for those who are just getting started on this life path.  Today I will talk about Farmers Markets: your gateway to the fresh and local world.

Support of farmers markets is a rapidly growing movement around the country.  They have always been popular in other parts of the world, such as Europe, but we are generally focused on large grocery chains in the United States. The farmers market movement here began with one or two farmers who wanted to cut out the middle man and sell their products directly to the consumer in order to keep the entire profit of their sales.  Since the 1970s this idea has steadily evolved into a weekly gathering of farmers and local artisans which, although still focused on benefiting the farmer, is more about community and promoting health. Now a days, farmers markets are almost exactly like a grocery store offering a wide variety of specialty baked goods, jams/jellies, honey, chocolate, dairy products, eggs, meats, and even alcohol along with produce. I am sure many of you are thinking: "yeah, but the prices are so much higher!" But ask yourself why.

Honestly, when it comes down to it, the prices are no higher than Shaws, Star Market, or Whole Foods.  Plus most of the groceries you find for cheap are subsidized by the government meaning they contain lots of corn syrup and non essential added ingredients which can be harmful to you. If not the ingredients, then they travel long distances which means they have a higher carbon footprint (I will focus on carbon footprints in another post), are older and therefore less nutritious. You know exactly what you are buying at the farmers market.

Most farmers markets have a set of rules which need to be followed by all vendors about safety and quality.  For example, Mass Farmers Markets  requires all of their member markets and vendors to sell products which are 100% farm grown.  Meaning all of the products sold by a participating farmer comes from their own land which is approved by MFM (check out Mass Farmers Markets entire policy). Also, when you buy at a farmers market, you are supporting your community by keeping your money in the local economy. In so doing, you are benefiting yourself and your neighbors.  You can not get that from shopping at a chain grocery store which sends your money all over the country, maybe even the world.

Shopping at a farmers market is an experience.  Many offer educational programs, tables which highlight other local businesses, and performances/art exhibits by local community members. I recommend that you make a visit to your local farmers market part of your weekly routine; it has become something I look forward to each week.  Make sure you give yourself enough time to enjoy strolling through the market, picking out the best products and chatting with each vendor.  It is easy to grab a picnic lunch and eat it on a nearby park bench while listening to the live music and breathing in the fresh air.  

Bring your own bags and plenty of cash (only a few of the vendors actually have credit card machines)!

For more information visit the Mass Farmers Market, Mass Department of Agriculture (MDAR), or The Farmers Market Coalition websites.