“To market, to market, to buy a fat pig…”

If you have a toddler you probably have sung this Mother Goose nursery rhyme a few hundred times. Don’t worry, I am not buying pigs at the farmers market.
You all know I have an obsession with kale. All greens as a matter of fact. Last Thursday, I drove all the way to Sunny Bridge for organic kale. A 20 minute drive. I know, I am crazy. I go to the Washington farmers market later that afternoon and there are four farms there with baskets and baskets of local kale. I’m a dumb ass. Yesterday, I wasn’t as dumb and waited for the market. Success.

What’s the big deal about shopping at a farmers market? I’ll break it down for ya.
You save some major cash. Next time you go to the grocery store look at the tags on the produce. Where are your apples coming from? Your lettuce? Your bananas? You’ll be amazed. Guess who has to pay for all that produce to be shipped to your local store, piled up so pretty on the shelves? You do at the end. It is damn expensive to get food trucked all over the world. Don’t be a sucker like I was last week. Buy local. Better yet, I jogged there and walked home with my bag of goodies. I didn’t have to pay for any gas and got my exercise in for the day. Word. I got all this scrumptious food for $26.

You eat what is in season. I feel better when I eat what is in season and local to my environment. Before I really got in tune with how food makes me feel, I thought this was a bunch of organic bologna. When I eat locally, I am in sync with my environment. I feel in tune. I think more clearly. I get more shit done. Try it for yourself if you don’t believe me. I dare you.

You get better tasting food. I started eating the strawberries on my walk home. I couldn’t resist. Produce at a farmer’s market is picked ripe and sold that day. You can taste the difference. Supermarket produce, on the other hand, can take up to two weeks to travel from farm to store, even in summer. Flavor and appearance can suffer. I see the difference in eggs and meat too. So fresh. So delicious.
You get to meet rock stars. Yep, farmers are rock stars these days. Andrea Beaman, I couldn’t agree more! Where else do you get to meet who makes your food? Get to know farmers in your area. Ask them questions. Last week, I had a 25 minute conversation with the owner of Logan Family Farms. I bought some local, pastured beef from her. We chatted about how the cows live, how they eat grass, how the meat is butchered. Now, this is a conversation I NEVER thought I would be having a year ago when I was pretty much a vegetarian. I tried all the diets out there. Talking to her was very educational and I felt good buying her product. Try it out for yourself.

You get to make your own food. Make my own food? Like grow it? Yep. Now, this is a concept very few of us take advantage of. Myself included. Wo took the challenge today. We bought a variety of herbs, tomato, zucchini, and pepper plants for like $20. Now, this is a first for us so we will see how this goes. However, if this is a success I will be in veggie heaven all sweet summer long. Or, the deer in my yard will have healthy snacks. I guess that is a win-win.



Not sure where a farmers market is in your area? No excuse now. Visit http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/ and plug in your zip code.
Do you go to a farmers market? What do you think? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment!
Don’t forget to enter to win a fabulous pair of earrings from KIST Boutique. You can rock them at the farmers market or while gardening.