Support local vendors and enjoy the tastes of the season at a farmers’ market!
With harvest season coming up, there are so many great reasons to shop at your local farmers’ markets! So while you’re celebrating fall and brainstorming delicious warm autumn recipes with healthy fall foods, consider visiting a farmers’ market to pick up some of your favorite ingredients!
Here are some of the best reasons to shop at farmers’ markets:
- Get fresh, high-quality produce
- Support local farmers and artisans
- Protect the environment
- Enjoy a fun outing with family and friends
- Find inspiration for new recipes
Grab your reusable bags, and let’s explore these five reasons to shop at a farmers’ market this season!
Get fresh, high-quality produce
When you buy fruits and veggies at the grocery store, you don’t always know where they came from, how old they are, and what conditions they were grown in. Buying at a farmers’ market means you can get this information right from the source!
Typically, your fruits and veggies will come straight from the local farm to the market, making them ultra-fresh and flavorful. This also makes them more nutritious since produce can actually lose nutrients over time (as much as 30% within three days of picking)!
Support local farmers and artisans
Farmers’ markets typically have a wide variety of vendors to explore, and they’ll usually be members of your local community too. It feels good to support small businesses and keep your money within the community!
At an average farmers’ market, you might find:
- Flower stands
- Soap and candle makers
- Fresh fruit and veggie stands
- Bread bakers
- Herbs and spices
- Art and crafted items
- Coffee roasters
- Jams and jellies
- Baked goods/desserts
- Jewelry makers
- Woodworkers
- Hot sauce/salsa artisans
- And more
Everyone wins — you get the amazing things they’re growing or creating, and they get to run a business they’re passionate about!
Protect the environment
The typical life-cycle of farmed foods from the point of production to sale involves a lot of environmental impacts. Your fruits and veggies might need to be transported halfway around the world, sprayed with chemical preservatives to keep them fresh, wrapped up in plastic packaging, etc. Not all the produce survives the journey, so there’s food waste in the process too.
When you shop at a farmers’ market, you cut out so many steps. Instead of shipping items hundreds of miles on planes, boats, and semi-trucks, the farmer just has to transport their foods a few miles. They don’t need extra preservatives since they’re coming to you fresh. Local farmers aren’t wrapping up wares in unnecessary plastic, either. It’s such a satisfying way to shrink your footprint, and is yet another great reason to shop at a farmers’ market!
Enjoy a fun outing with family and friends
There are few better ways to spend a crisp fall weekend morning than wandering around a farmers’ market with your favorite warm beverage in hand, admiring beautiful flowers and deciding what to fill your bags with. It’s a perfect experience to share with your friends or family.
Maybe your farmers’ market has face painting for kids or a stand where you can all pick out pumpkins and gourds. Perhaps you have a best friend who’s a fan of wholesome weekend outings. Or maybe you’re excited to wander around yourself and run into friends and neighbors who are also out for the day. However you enjoy the farmers’ market, it can be even more fun with others!
Find inspiration for new recipes
Feel like you need to get a little creative in the kitchen but aren’t sure what to do? A farmers’ market might be the perfect place to get some inspiration! When you stop at a stand, ask the person running it if they have any favorite ways to use various ingredients. Some might even have printed recipe cards to give you. Plus, a farmers’ market might have ingredients that you’d never find in the grocery store, like carrots in colors you’ve never seen before. That instantly makes meals more interesting!
Looking for more fun fall activities to share with the family? Check out these fun activities to do with grandkids!
