To Market, To Market

August 24, 2011 by The Chick

"Farm Family"

One of my favorite summer activities to do with my family is visit our local Farmer’s Market (the above sculpture sits just outside our farmer’s market). Every Saturday our family treks downtown to see all the fresh, local goodies our market has to offer. Sometimes we buy things, sometimes we don’t. Many times I have a shopping list in hand and walk away with more than I came for.

There are always surprises at our Farmer’s Market. This week, it was this man, raising money for the American Cancer Society:

He was SO good. The kids totally did not believe us when we told them he was a real person…until someone put some money in his jar and he tipped his hat at them. It totally freaked them out! Of course, we thought it was hilarious.

There are so many things I love about our farmer’s market, that it is hard to narrow them down to just a few to share with you. But I’m going to try.

1. I love that I am setting a good example for my children.

By supporting our local farmers, my children are learning to vote with their dollars. They learn how important it is to support, monetarily, the things that we believe in. They are learning valuable life lessons about caring for their bodies and making good, wholesome choices.

One of our local farms. Don't you just love this sign? My kids DO love their vegetables!

2. I love meeting like-minded people.

It may sound silly, but sometimes I feel like being at the farmer’s market is like being at home. Everyone is so friendly and kind and helpful. There are so many people there that we have much in common with. We tend to be the type of family that makes “non-conventional” choices. Whether it be something as simple as not having cable to something as significant as homeschooling, I feel like we are often bucking the system. There are many times when the people around us think we’re a little nuts (we DO own 1/14th of a cow after all). But at the Farmer’s Market, we are right at home…along with the rest of the nut jobs!

A mama after my own heart, wearing her baby. I'm normal here!

3. I love having a voice.

At the farmer’s market, I love shaking the hand of the farmer who grew the food I am feeding my family. I love being on a first name basis with those who are providing for us. I love that when they hear that we are in a tough spot financially, they throw in some extra and refuse our money when we try to pay for it. I love that I can help them just like they help me. I appreciate knowing that my money is not going to support GMO, pesticide-laden, months old produce. At the farmer’s market, I have a voice. I am heard.

The Chicklet helps me choose some corn

We later discovered that the 12 ears we paid for was actually 19. Could it have been that it was nearing the end of the day and they just wanted to get rid of it? Maybe. Or could it have been that these are real people, who grow real food and appreciate their faithful customers? Maybe. What I do know is I never would have gotten a deal like that on just-picked-yesterday corn from the supermarket.

4. I love finding new things that we can’t get anywhere else.

Like tomatoes as big as your hand

Or organic treats for the puppy

5. I love a good bargain.

Don’t even get me going on the whole, “Eating healthy is SO expensive!” myth. Sure you may have to get a little more creative or make sacrifices in other areas, but I have a hard time believing my pound upon pound of freshly-picked, pesticide-free, non-GMO, organic produce costs more than someone else’s grocery cart full of pop, chips and cookies…or meal at McDonald’s.

Please don’t take me the wrong way-I am not judging people who buy those things (I might be judging the companies that make them…just a little), but to me, it can just become another excuse. And, trust me, the only reason I know this is because I’ve used them all. Excuses, that is.

A bountiful harvest

This week's haul-all for less than $9

Do you frequent your Farmer’s Market? What is your favorite thing about it?

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Family, farmers market, GMO, healthy eating, healthy living, organic, produce | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on August 24, 2011 at 11:36 am | Reply Jackie

Just discovered your blog yesterday and I love it! Thank you for sharing your journey and you are an inspiration to me.
- on August 24, 2011 at 2:07 pm | Reply The Chick
  
  Aw, thanks Jackie!
on August 24, 2011 at 12:58 pm | Reply Stephanie

I love the farmer’s market! I just wish that ours was a little bit better…there are less than 10 vendors, so it’s a really quick shop, when really I want to spend a whole afternoon there every week. And that farm family sculpture? It kind of scares me.
- on August 24, 2011 at 2:06 pm | Reply The Chick
  
  Really? I love that sculpture lol! We actually have 3 different farmer’s markets, that are open 4 days, so often we will be there several times a week!
on August 24, 2011 at 3:52 pm | Reply Lori Pottorff

Most of the vendors at our Farmer’s Market are Amish. It’s so cool for my kids to learn about a culture that doesn’t rely on conventional ways. Ya know? We have a huge garden and I don’t know what we’d do without it. It is so expensive buying from the store. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I love the silver man, reminded me of a trip to San Fran the hubby and I took in ’04!!
- on August 24, 2011 at 5:08 pm | Reply The Chick
  
  Lori-I just started gardening this year. And I am now a life-long gardener, lol. I don’t know what took me so long and I can’t imagine ever not doing it now. Ours isn’t too big-I have 4, 4 by 8 raised beds. I wish I had room for more but since our garage is on the back of our house we have only our side yard to work with. I love it though!
on August 24, 2011 at 5:02 pm | Reply Maureen

Love the farmer’s market, but the one around here is small. Where we used to leave in the central part of NY has a huge farmer’s market every Saturday in Syracuse. They have all kinds of vendors, not just farmers, so you definately get a little of this and a little of that. The best time to go is now thru the holidays. The bounty is amazing.
- on August 24, 2011 at 5:05 pm | Reply The Chick
  
  That sounds wonderful Maureen! I would love to live somewhere that I could get fresh, local produce all year long!
on August 25, 2011 at 9:55 pm | Reply Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake « Fat Chick Fed Up

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on October 7, 2011 at 11:08 am | Reply Fit Stanley Gets Down « Fat Chick Fed Up

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on December 23, 2011 at 11:51 am | Reply My Happy Place, Part 4 « Fat Chick Fed Up

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