8 Benefits of Supporting Your Local Farmers Market
Discover > Farm to Table Eating in Texas > 8 Benefits of Supporting Your Local Farmers Market
Experiencing the lively colors, scents, and tastes of a farmers’ market is a truly wholesome experience. Here in Texas, you can find an incredible selection of produce that you simply won’t chance upon in your standard supermarket –– sweet red carrots, multicolored heirloom tomatoes, green garlic, watermelon radishes, duck (What wine goes well with duck?) eggs, and other surprises! Visiting a farmers’ market with your family makes for an exciting spring outing. It may even get your little picky eaters to try a new thing or two!
To understand the world of Texas farmers’ markets in more detail, make sure to read this ultimate guide. But why supporting local farmers is important to encourage shopping at these markets.
Support the Hands that Grow Your Food
The food we take for granted in our homes is thanks to the hard work and relentless efforts of farmers and ranchers. Purchasing directly from the people who grow our food ensures better returns for their produce, and they don’t end up being the last people to reap the financial benefits.
Now that mainstream agribusiness controls most of America’s food production, small-scale family farms struggle to compete in the market. Factory farming corporations are increasingly taking over the farming sector, driving many small-scale farming businesses to the brink of closure.
Most farmers’ market produce comes from within a narrow radius of the market. This means that the farms contribute to local jobs and are likely to spend the revenue they make within the local economy. Additionally, on average, a mere 10 cents of each food dollar returns to the farmer, with the remaining 90 cents going toward packaging, marketing, and transportation. On the other hand, farmers sell directly to consumers receiving 80 cents per food dollar—the numbers speak for themselves.
The Freshest Produce Possible, and Better Tasting Too!
The produce you get at a farmers’ market is at its freshest and tastiest. Naturally ripened fruits and veggies from the field are brought directly to you, meaning no long-distance shipping, stimulating hormones, or long stays in storage. In other words, farm-fresh food is as real as it gets.
Additionally, when you visit a farmers market, you can be assured that the produce for sale almost always tastes better. This is because it’s picked at its ripest, with the natural sugars in the plants having reached their full potential. Eating naturally ripened produce not only tastes better but also provides the best nutrition possible.
Seasonality for the Win
While it’s certainly more convenient to find your desired produce at any time of the year, nutritionists say that food is meant to be eaten at its natural harvest time so that our bodies are in synchrony with nature. For example, have you realized you naturally crave “lighter” produce like cucumbers and watermelon during summertime? Whereas, hearty winter vegetables such as pumpkins and radishes are best enjoyed during the colder months.
The produce found at farmers’ markets is always seasonal. As you look forward to artichokes (What wine goes well with artichokes?) in spring, sweetcorn in summer, and carrots in winter, you can reconnect with nature and the changing seasons.
Organic, Natural, and Non-GMO
Large-scale factory farming is sadly the norm of food production today. Big, commercial farms practice monoculture industrial farming, where only a single type of fruit or vegetable is cultivated in the whole plot of farming land. While monoculture maximizes profits, it zaps the earth of its vitality and nutrients. Moreover, it exposes plants to diseases and pests, thereby increasing the need for chemical pesticides, furthering damage to soil and introducing harmful chemicals into our food system.
However, local farmers often use natural, organic ways to grow their crop. This process of sustainable agriculture is better for the land, and healthier for those who eat the produce too. So, consider shopping for ingredients at a Texas farmers’ market as your first step toward developing a healthier lifestyle.
Humane Animal Treatment
Sustainable ranchers and farmers raise their animals without using conventional, profit-boosting antibiotics. These animals graze on natural pastures and are spared the horror of living in cramped feedlots and cages. The livestock are not mass-bred or injected with hormones so that they mature faster.
Buy Organic Food for Less
One of the most common misconceptions about organic foods is that it’s more expensive than grocery-bought products. However, several studies have shown the total opposite!
Grocery stores are known to charge an arm and a leg for organic fruits and vegetables. Whereas, at a farmer’s market, you will often find that they are not much more expensive than conventionally grown produce.
What’s more, the best farmers’ markets offer you the chance to buy in bulk –– far more convenient for those with a busy lifestyle. Plus special deals on certain products can make produce even more affordable.
And of course, since you’re buying directly from the farmers, no middle parties are taking a cut that would have added to the price!
Get to Know Your Community
Would you rather leisurely wander around open-air stalls and farm stands offering fresh produce on a sunny Saturday morning, or drag your cart around a stale grocery store with glaring artificial lights? Coming to a farmers’ market makes shopping a fun and relaxing activity, rather than a sluggish chore. Think of your local farmers’ market as a community center –– a place to meet up with friends and farmers, or just to get a breath of fresh air. The farmers market is also a great place to have fun and enjoy special events.
Support Your Local Programs
When you buy from a farmers market, you're not just getting great produce. You're supporting the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) as well. The program aims to increase the consumption of fresh produce in underserved communities, and it does so by providing financial assistance for SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) participants who want to buy fresh produce from a farmers market.
In addition to providing access to healthy foods, this program also helps small-scale farmers who work with local communities provide a greater variety of fresh produce while building their business.
The FMNP is part of the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which helps low-income people eat well and live healthy lives by providing funding for a variety of programs.
Buying from a farmers market helps support this program—and with it, your community!
Safe for the Environment Too
Food in the United States journeys about 1,500 miles before it gets to your plate. All this travel and shipping consumes large amounts of fuel, contributing to pollution and creating large amounts of trash. On the other hand, food at your local market is grown using sustainable methods with a minimal environmental impact, and also doesn’t need to travel long distances.
In this way, if you shop from farmers’ markets, it isn’t only advantageous to you and the farmers but it also benefits our planet. Along with conserving fossil fuels, small-scale family farms generate less environmental waste in the form of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and harmful gasses. Moreover, many don’t utilize giant processing and sorting machinery, which also contributes to future environmental damage.
So, there you go –– the many benefits of shopping at farmers’ markets! The food is fresher and more nutritious, and you get to choose from a far more extensive variety of produce. It’s more reasonably priced, plus you get the opportunity to boost your local economy. So next time you’re writing your shopping list, consider a visit to a farmers’ market near you!
Which Texas farmers’ market do you frequently visit? Let us know in the comments below!
If you want to become a farmers market vendor? Click here for more information.
