Farmer's Market Fun
Holy Hannah on high I love going to the farmer’s market. Fun fact about your homegirl, I actually used to work at the farmer’s market for a hot minute. I helped out with a family owned orchard who sold pear sweetened jams and locally grown produce. I literally had the time of my life waking up at 4:30AM, wearing my hipster grunge outfits, and talking to everyone about jams. Clay can testify, I was my best self when I was wearing farmer’s market sheek and had spent the entire morning on the grind.
Anyway not the point of this post.
Look at these fresh, locally grown, drool worthy vegetables we saw at the market this week. Holy crap, yum. You don’t find produce and veggies like this at your local Safeway. In my humble opinion this is what real food looks like. No protein shaker required, no shiny packaging, no false advertising needed. How incomprehensibly beautiful and cool is it that we as humans have the ability to put a seed in the ground, water it, then eat what it creates?!?! Yet we choose to drive through MickieD’s for those fresh apple pies or whatever the hip kids are doing these days.
I love the idea of knowing where the food that I am consuming comes from. It’s so sad that we live in a world where food is no longer about life, love, family, consumption, fuel, nutrients, joy, community, all the good stuff. Food has become political and industrialized. We have taken the humans out of the equation and figured out what the best fiscal way to produce food like substances. We have completely changed the way that we shop, prepare, and consume food. In this post I’m just going to focus on the shopping part.
When we walk into the great spacious building, oh wait, I mean the grocery store you usually go in with your list in your hand. If you are like me and have the attention span of a six year old at a disco arcade, then staying focused and sticking to your list can be the struggle of the century. When I walk in I keep my head down and power walk from item to item carefully planned and written on my list. Otherwise I would go home with a cart full of 2 for 5 jelly beans, pint of ice cream for clay, and lots of ruffle chips nuff said.
The grocery stores nowadays are setup to sell products. Almost as if you were to go into a shoe store and buy shoes. The jumbo boxes of cereal that advertise “heart healthy” and “low fat” have absolutely no intention of filling your pantry with nutrient rich food. I’m not arguing that you can avoid going to the grocery store, nor should you try to do so. I’m saying that when you have the opportunity to go to the farmers market to pick up local veggies/produce, support your community, and get trusted products you should 100% take it!
Going to the farmer’s market is great because it gives you total and complete control of the food you are consuming. For example, this darling photo of clay picking out some produce. We took a bundle of romaine lettuce home that we purchased from this small local farm and we seemingly increased our awareness of where our food is produced. When we used that lettuce in our meals for the week we can confidently know that we are consuming veggies that are organically and locally grown. I love the feeling of being absent from the chain of supermarkets and megastores.
It is so interesting that simply visiting a market can be more than just going to a store to pick out food, but it can be a human experience. We as humans have the desire to connect with other humans. Food has the unique ability to bring people together in all different settings. Going to the market creates an atmosphere where people can pick out good food, listen to live music, sample products, and go home feeling like they had more than a traditional “Safeway” experience.
I understand that it isn’t always easy to swing by the market and take time out of your day to pick up the food that you need for the week. I also recognize that supermarkets have products that the farmer’s markets do not always have. I am not arguing that you get every food item at the farmer’s market and that you spend every Saturday spending two hours shopping around, listening to music etc. I myself have a Costco card. Cue GASP.
I am arguing that whenever you have a spare weekend you wake up an hour earlier than you usually would, put your Birkenstocks on, grab your reusable bag, and head to your local farmer’s market. Shopping at the markets not only increase our awareness of the human costs of food but they fulfill a much greater need for human connection. When is the last time you went to the supermarket and heard a live urban prairie band playing? When is the last time you went to the supermarket and stepped into a booth of fresh cut flowers that radiated the smell of a local flower field? I cannot remember the last time I have gone to the grocery store and they have had veggies that looked as beautiful as the ones we saw at the market.
Take the time to be nostalgic. We as a society yearn for a sense of community that is dwindling. Be apart of community, pick up some goods, and have an excuse to look like a hipster for a Saturday. Your welcome for the suggestion, in advance.
