The Farmer’s Market

The day that the Portland farmers market opens is always one of the most important times in spring for me. It is tough to go all winter without having the delicious, fresh, locally grown produce that you can only find at a local farmer's market. I used to think that this was a bunch of hype. I would buy all of my food in the grocery store, and assume that I was getting the highest quality. I simply was not. On the contrary, some of the food was of a very low quality compared to what I could find at the farmer's market.

You see, the food that you get at the grocery store is often not even grown on the same continent you live on. On the contrary, it is grown overseas and shipped thousands of miles in big, industrial refrigerators and freezers. It is sometimes frozen and thawed, and often takes a lot longer to get to you than you would think. As a result, the taste is not as good, and the vegetables do not always contain as many vitamins. In addition, only the varieties that keep the best over long periods of time can be sold in this manner. Some of them do not taste as good as locally grown veggies that can be taken to the farmers market right after they are picked.

At a good farmers market, not only do you benefit from fresher food, but you also get to sample the local variety. Instead of two or three kinds of tomatoes, for example, farmers markets often have dozens of different varieties. The same goes for potatoes, onions, and all of the other dietary mainstays.

Of course, you can not do all of your shopping at the farmers market. It is closed all winter, so you have to go somewhere else. Also, you are sort of limited by what can be grown locally. Most of the time, you have to go to a grocery store to buy grains, cereal, and other staple products. Even so, you can do pretty well buying locally grown produce in a local food co-op. I usually go to the farm market when it is open, and to the local People's Food Co-op the rest of the time. That way, I can always buy high-quality produce. From time to time, I have to pay a bit more, but I think that it is worth it in the long run.