To find a local farmer’s market check out your local paper
or online. Local Harvest lists all of the farmer’s markets from around the
country. To pick a place to go to, make a visit the farmer’s market first
before buying anything. During this visit, check out what the vendors offer and
talk to the farmers. Find out how their fresh produce is grown, such as whether
they use conventional or organic farming methods. Some farmer’s market vendors
also sell meat, poultry and eggs. Find out how their animals were raised and if
they are given any hormones or antibiotics. Also ask if the animals were grass
fed or corn fed. The answers to these questions will be important and will help
you decide if you will go to that particular farmer/farmers market. Sometimes
conventional farmers have an oversupply of crops and need to sell them and use
farmers market to get rid of this excess crop – this produce is essentially the
same food as in the grocery store. If you are looking for fresh organic produce
from local farmers you need to research the farmers.
Once you have decided on a particular market, it is
important to begin with a list of items you will need -- just like when
shopping at a grocery store. This starts with meal planning for the week. When
you are planning meals, keep in mind what fruits and vegetables are in season
at the time. Farmer’s markets sell fresh produce in season, meaning that at any
given time the only produce available are those foods that ripen during that
period. For example, you decide you want to make an apple dish but it is May
and asparagus is in season. You will need to plan for this. Search the internet
for a handy guide that tells you which fresh produce is in season in your area.
If it is spring, you will find many spring vegetables such as asparagus, at the
farm stand. If you are going in the fall you will find a variety of fresh fall
fruit and vegetables such as apples and pumpkins. Plan meals according to the
season and you will not have any trouble finding what you are looking for.
Next, plan to go early, preferably right when they open. You
want to get the freshest produce and have as much selection as possible. If you
go later in the day you risk losing out on the best fruits and vegetables. Much
of the food will spoil from sitting out in the hot sun, and there will only be
throwaways left. When you start shopping go to the vendors you picked out when
you were doing your research and buy from them. Get as much as you can from
your list—if you planned well you should be able to get most of the fresh
produce from the farmers market. Also be sure to bring your own bags. Some
vendors have bags but some may not. Bring a large reusable bag to make it
easier to carry your food home.
Remember that all the food at the market is fresh from the
ground or picked that day or the day before. These items are real foods that
have not been processed in the way supermarket produce has been. You will need
to know how to clean your fresh produce once you get it home. There will be
clumps of dirt, some bugs, sand and other inedible material. This is to be
expected. Get some good quality organic vegetable soap and wash your root
vegetables and fruits. Submerse green in a sink full of water at least twice to
clean out the dirt.
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