I know there are many articles out there that try to get you to grow anywhere even if you don’t think you have enough space. Space may not even be the issue; it could be many different reasons. Regardless, it’s not always easy to grow everything yourself and that is pushing people to shop at farmer’s markets. The other reason is that most people see that we have a broken food system and all the chemicals that are constantly being used on our food.
The next best thing to growing your own is to buy from local growers. Meet your farmer and talk to them about their methods. You want to be as local as possible and may even be hyperlocal when you do a little research. You cannot do that with the conventional, broken agricultural system.
Farmer’s markets are popping up all over and that gives the consumer more options to shop around.
To find your local Farmer’s Market:
In this dynamic; it makes it harder on the farmers and growers. They need to find ways of standing out. They may provide specialty items or unique/rare varieties of fruits and veggies. The issue is that once everybody sees what is selling; they all jump on the bandwagon. That farmer will need to keep innovating season after season and this keeps them on their toes.
It is hard being a farmer with the very long hours. These hours include: planning, seeds, planting, weeding, pest management, harvesting, packing, working the market, all the accounting work and many more things. It’s amazing that they get so much done.
So next time you walk through a farmer’s market please talk to them and see what they have to offer. What you see on their tables; really are the fruits of their labor. Please don’t even try to get a “better deal” on something. They have earned every single penny.