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| (From PauldingFarmers.blogspot.com) |
What great events. Every time I read a book from a time period long ago, I think about some of the neat things that we have upgraded from since then. That's one of the reasons that I LOVE farmers' markets. It's like going back in time!
Here are some great reasons I found that we should take advantage of what they have to offer:
Why everyone should shop at Farmers’ Markets?
• Farmers’ Market produce 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.
• You can meet the farmers who grow your food, ask when it was picked, how it was grown, and ways to prepare it.
• You’ll find unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables – those bred for flavor, not uniform in size, or ability to travel. Growing a larger number of varieties is ecologically smart too because it reduces crops’ vulnerability to disease.
• Farmers’ Markets put more money in the farmers’ pockets. Commercial farmers get only twenty-five cents of every dollar’s worth of produce sold in supermarkets. At the Farmers’ market, they get the whole dollar, then pay a small amount of rent – often only 5 percent of sales.
• Buying locally grown produce encourages regional farming. If farming were more widespread, we could save fuel and resources spent on long distance shipping and reduce our over-dependence on a handful of growing regions that may not be able to produce high yields indefinitely.
• When produce is grown and purchased locally, the money remains in the community and stimulates the local economy.
• Working farms preserve open spaces without using tax dollars.
-From Anneli Johnson on Quincysfarmersmarket.com
• You can meet the farmers who grow your food, ask when it was picked, how it was grown, and ways to prepare it.
• You’ll find unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables – those bred for flavor, not uniform in size, or ability to travel. Growing a larger number of varieties is ecologically smart too because it reduces crops’ vulnerability to disease.
• Farmers’ Markets put more money in the farmers’ pockets. Commercial farmers get only twenty-five cents of every dollar’s worth of produce sold in supermarkets. At the Farmers’ market, they get the whole dollar, then pay a small amount of rent – often only 5 percent of sales.
• Buying locally grown produce encourages regional farming. If farming were more widespread, we could save fuel and resources spent on long distance shipping and reduce our over-dependence on a handful of growing regions that may not be able to produce high yields indefinitely.
• When produce is grown and purchased locally, the money remains in the community and stimulates the local economy.
• Working farms preserve open spaces without using tax dollars.
-From Anneli Johnson on Quincysfarmersmarket.com
Need help finding one near you?
Check out this great website. You can even find farms that you can buy directly from!
Local Harvest
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