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Today's Easy Eco-tip:
Shop locally and in season without even trying by shopping at your local farmers market.Consider bringing a neighbor with you or just telling a friend about your incredible purchases. You won't have to deliberate about whether you should buy those organic apples grown in Chile because they simply aren't available. Also not available: sugar cereals and packaged snacks with fifty ingredients. When you are shopping at the farmers market, anything your children beg you to buy, you'll probably feel pretty good about buying.
In addition to taking all the calculation and mental effort out of shopping locally and seasonally, the farmers market makes it super easy to reduce the amount of food you buy in disposable plastic packaging. Huge bonus: no little stickers on your produce!
If you're still buying most of your produce at the grocery store, I strongly suggest you find your local market and check it out, especially now while it's summer. Right now our local markets are bursting with stone fruit and berries and tomatoes. Last week I bought my first grapes of the season. Yum!
If you are a farmers market veteran, consider spreading the word. I always like to tell acquaintances new to our area about our incredible farmers markets. Many folks don't even know that they exist. I like to tell people how much I like meeting the farmers, how much my kids enjoy the samples, how fresh and tasty everything is. Even folks who don't consider themselves "greenies" can appreciate the benefits of the farmers market.
Related Posts
Getting the Most Out of Your Farmers Market
My Love Affair with the Farmers' Market
How I Shop for Food
Everything I Know About the Farmers Market
Do you shop regularly at a farmers market? Why or why not?
I love our local summer farmer's market. It is held every other Sunday (so avoid competing with the next door's community farmer's market on the alternating Sunday). Best part? It's just a walk down the street, so zero carbon emissions getting there!
ReplyDeleteLucky! Our closest market is only open Sundays, and I don't shop on Sundays, so I have to drive a ways to get to mine. Still worth it though. I try to combine with other errands. And I go to the regular grocery store about once a month, so hopefully it evens out.
DeleteI love farmer's markets, but my absolute favorite are our local farms, where the kids can visit the animals, too. We have several local farms in (or very close to) our town, so summertime is absolutely wonderful for fresh fruit. I just saw your post after returning from a farm with fresh blueberries, white peaches, plums, cherries...the list goes on. All of them gave off such a wonderful scent, which you cannot find in supermarkets because the fruit is so old by the time it's traveled across the country (or beyond). I wrote a post about this topic last summer (local farm vs. supermarket), but I might write a follow-up because I just can't believe the astounding difference in the scent and taste! In other words, I'm in full agreement with you about supporting local farmers!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I sound like a broken record here on my blog, but I think farmers markets are so awesome I just love to sing their praises. We are just ending blueberry season over here :(
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