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Make It Easy To Shop Healthy

June 10, 2014   15 Comments

Snack Girl has an aversion to shopping. I hate the indecision, time, and money involved.

Farmers Markets Make It Easy To Shop Healthy

There is one venue that I can tolerate. My town’s weekly farmer’s market is a pretty fun place to shop. Find yours on Local Harvest.

Why? Everything there is good for me! Carrots, beets, rhubarb, spinach, turnips, lettuce, kale….right now all sorts of root vegetables and greens are coming into Massachusetts farms.

There aren't any check out aisles filled with Snickers or Pepsi. Though, I will tell you, there is a bakery that shows up with glorious fresh croissants. I always walk right past it toward the kale without stopping (not).

There were even some local strawberries (started in a greenhouse). Whoa!

Here is a photo of some lovely greens:

My favorite mode of attack is to buy what looks good (in fairly large quantities) so that my refrigerator is filled with vegetables. My town, Amherst, MA, holds its farmer’s market on Saturday morning.

I love that it opens at 7:30 AM so that I can get there and get out before my family notices that I left. Saturday is also a good day because I am off from work and I have time to plan how I am going to cook the veggies.

There was a great video (which I cannot find) of a chef who comes home from the farmer's market and processes her veggies immediately. She washes the lettuce, roasts her beets, peels her carrots, etc. so that her refrigerator is a source of healthy food all week long.

I wish I could be as industrious as she is, but Saturday has too many soccer games, birthday parties, and dance recitals for me to want to do all that work at once.

Do you shop at your farmer’s market? What do you like about it?


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15 Comments:

I love my local Farmers Market..I don't buy berries from any shop other than my local Farmers Market. I enjoy roaming my market on "Lovemyfarmer" app when I'm not around. I suggest you do that too.. Download the FREE app fro iTunes today.

I think you mean how to stride ahead by Tamar Adler? http://vimeo.com/29997686

I love my local farmer's market in Mississauga, Ontario. They reinforce a sense of community, and also often have a bunch of activities for the kids to help educate them about food and healthy eating. One time my daughter helped to make up a pickling brine and then the next they made lettuce wraps with all veggies found at the market. They are gearing up for the season and have put the call out for volunteers. We will participate in these preparatory activities, too.

I absolutely shop at our local Farmer's Market every Saturday morning and continue throughout the year as a few local farms grow in their hoop houses etc. and offer online market shares and they deliver to our city at a convenient locale.

I am also a member of a wonderful CSA local which started last week and continues for weekly pickups through the fall, of fresh veggies, herbs, etc. etc. Our farmer has even stated this year to provide recipes for some of the varieties of greens she is offering now and this will continue through to the fall.

Love my veggies...

Shopping at the Farmer's Market, for me, is like shopping for shoes or books. It's one of those little pleasures in life that I take advantage of any chance I get!

We have a lot of Farmer's Markets in the Twin Cities, and they should be starting up now! It's a bit intimidating going there without a plan or list of what you need. This year I'm getting a CSA box, so we'll see what crazy things I end up cooking to use it all up! Seems like I'll be eating a lot of salads right now...

Living in California we have some wonderful Farmers Markets. I also have a large garden do I only pick up what we dont grow.we go twice a week. We get fresh eggs and Hummus also so yummy. Its also nice to talk to the growers and get done new ways of preparing the items!

Love it! Ours opens this Saturday... I call the first day See and be Seen 'cause it is the place to be. One of my favorite things is to get Sudanese food-to-go; my favorite is spinach with couscous. Can't wait!

I really enjoy going to my Farmer's Market which I found 2 years ago. It is so nice and tranquil and the farmers are so polite and nice and give great advice and how they got started. The food is marvelous. I feel in love with beets again and the berries are top notch...store bought are just not the same. WE had a recent tragedy and one of the vendors was murdered but the way the community came together was SPECTACULAR!

I would love it if our town had a good farmer's market. Our town is very small. We have one Walmart, one Kroeger, one Brookshires, and one very expensive healthfood store. WM carries some organic produce but if I want a healthy taco seasoning, I have to order organics online and make my own spice blends because either none are available or very expensive. Otherwise, it is a 2 hour drive one way in only 2 directions to get to a larger city that has a Whole Foods Market or Natural Grocer. The only Trader Joe's is over 2 hours one way in bad traffic part of the way to Dallas. This can turn into a 3 hour drive presently with construction that is happening on a major artery. Many Americans and Canadians live apart or far from major cities, something that those living in or near a large city take for granted.

This was really a lifestyle adjustment for us coming from the Los Angeles where there are many farmer's markets, great organic markets and restaurants. The beauty of where we live? Very little traffic, affordable land and homes, plenty of open space, no gangs (little crime very managable by our police department) and a slower pace just right for home improvement work (we have one Home Depot), fishing, and camping.

In years past we have had a garden but with the drought, we have had to ration our water for the new trees we had to plant after having to remove 2 large 60 year old trees that died from the drought.

With all the trade offs, It is worth it.

Yes I love my local farmer's market! I discovered it early last year and it was JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM ME, i can't believe I didn't know about it until last year. What really shocked and impressed me is just how freakin amazing the fruits taste compared to the cardboard you buy at supermarkets.

My farmers market has this one particular strawberry vendor who has literally the most amazing strawberries ever! Not all strawberry farmers market vendors are the same either - bought some from another vendor last week and it wasn't quite as good. Apparently the place where I normally get it (the really tasty one) is also organic - didn't know that until my housemate told me. :D SO GOOD. Peaches and Necterines too!

My farmer's market goes from super early (no clue when) until around 1pm on Sundays. Sadly i can't force myself to get up that early on a Sunday but I actually prefer going at around 11 or 12 - yes it's hotter and maybe the picking isn't as good but a lot of vendors ends up putting their stock on massive sale towards the end. Last summer i went even later (between 12 and 12:30) and i would go home with 2 large plastic bags of a mix of necterines and peaches for a total of $5! We're talking about a good 10 lb for $5!!! The peaches and necterines in these bags tend to be pretty soft/ripe and some were kind of leaking juice. I don't care if they don't keep as well because they were SO AMAZING. This year sadly i keep getting up too early (goes around 11) and the vendors haven't decided to mass sale yet. Unfortunately going later means getting home later means less time to get all the chores done - so i take that as trade off and is okay without getting the massive amount of awesome fruits lol.

I buy some veggies at my farmers market but not as much mainly because I have no clue what half of the products are LOL. x___x I'm a beginner cook still! haha

only thing i don't really like about farmers market is that it's such limited time. Sometimes i just don't have the time or the energy to go on a Sunday morning. :\ those times I appreciate a good ol' supermarket for being able to pick up whatever i need at any time!

I love the Farmers Mrkt too,BUT I found out in my area, Mobile, AL, they use boooo kooooo pesticides/chemicals. Not only do they spray, the drench the soil with chemical(s) to kill everything then they plant. There are two people that grow organic & it's worth every dime to me. It's also cheaper than the organic food from the grocer. Be aware & don't hesitate to ask if & what kind of chemicals/pesticides they use.

Farmer's Markets rock!!!!! I just went to the first one of the season this past Saturday here in Ellwood City PA. Thank you for this post :)

@Phoebe Hi, Farmer's everywhere are starting to use organic pesticides instead of harmful chemicals. It is better for them in the longrun as is being taught in the agricultural schools. Many farmer's and ranchers are getting onboard with these new techniques because more and more people are demanding organic or at least safe practices in raising our food. Some people raise organics but are not certified so it is always good to ask as you mentioned.

hi Lisa .... is this the video you refer to:

http://vimeo.com/m/30106710


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