10 Tips to Shop Smart at Farmers Markets

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10 Tips to Shop Smart at Farmers Markets

 

Photo by Rhana Castle

Farmers market season is fast approaching, and that's good news

for produce lovers as well as the environment. Since locally grown produce does

not have to travel as far as the typical grocery store radish or raspberry,

it's usually fresher, picked at the peak of flavor, still rich in vitamins

and minerals, and 'greener' in the sense that it reaches your table

without guzzling mega-gallons of gas.

For these

reasons as well as the pure pleasure of walking from stall to stall on a

beautiful day, farmers markets have been booming since the mid-1990s. According

to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of neighborhood markets

surged from 1,755 to 4,385 between 1994 and 2006, with nearly 20% growth

between 2004 and 2006 alone.

Still,

farmers market shopping is a bit of an art. FruitandVeggieGuru.com, a website

dedicated to the world of produce, recommends a few simple steps for the

perfect outing.

1. Find out if all

vendors are grower/producers. Some markets have stalls with

overstock, distressed or supermarket-rejected produce purchased from local

wholesalers who unload it cheaply to sellers for fruit and vegetable stands.

While you can get good deals from these sellers, they are not a source for

fresh local produce. If that's what you're looking for, call the

market coordinator to determine if that's what you're getting.

2. Shop early in the day for selection. When the

first-of-season blueberries or peaches or honeycrisp apples arrive, they often

disappear from market tables faster than you can say "I've been

waiting a year!" Even less time-sensitive foods like pickling cucumbers

might be gone if you wait until late in the day. The early shopper gets the

best choice.

3. Let the produce du jour guide your meal planning. Since

farmers market selections come from just 100 or 200 miles away, the local climate

dictates what you'll find on any given day. That means you'll get

leafy greens, herbs and sprouts early in the season, and you'll have to

wait for items like corn, berries and tomatoes. Build your menus around produce

availability to take full advantage of the season's bounty.

4. Buy for value, but don't balk at

prices. Foods like corn, green beans, herbs, squashes, cucumbers

and fresh peas may be less expensive than storebought. Tomatoes are also a good

value, especially compared to homegrown given that a $2 plant that may yield

only six or seven fruits for the season. Many other items may be pricier than

your neighborhood grocer because small farmers lack economies of scale, use

more expensive heirloom seeds, and care for their crops by hand rather than

machine. The reward: you'll get peak-of-season taste that is hard to find

at your neighborhood grocer.

5. Understand the difference between

heirloom and mass-produced varieties. Local farmers

typically use heirloom seed stock passed down through generations without human

engineering. Often, fruits and vegetables grown from these seed varieties have

more flavor than grocery store produce bred from seeds developed for their high

yield, ability to withstand long-distance travel, and/or tolerance to drought

and frost.

6. Go for the items you can't get

in the store. When they're available, grab regional

varieties like an Arkansas Black or Harrelson apple or those sweet, juicy

strawberries your grandmother remembers from her childhood. In many

cases, you're not going to find them outside farmers markets unless you

know the farmer. This applies to ripe peaches as well. Peaches that are picked

hard, like those you get in the grocery store, get softer but not sweeter as

they ripen. Farmers market peaches are typically picked ripe and therefore

sweeter than any alternative source.

7. Look for organic growers.

You'll usually find a few, offering foods that are grown and processed

without artificial ingredients, preservatives, hormones, antibiotics,

germ-killing irradiation, and most pesticides and fertilizers. But don't

expect to find "certified organic" goods. Many smaller producers

are not big enough to justify the expense of getting inspected and certified

under the National Organic Program.

8. Ask when it was picked. The sugars

in foods like peas and corn turn to starch quickly after picking, so be sure

you know when they came out of the fields. Some vendors pick fresh in the

morning, while others pick the night before because they have to drive two or

three hours to set up for a 7 or 8 am market. Beware of anything older.

9. Take cash and a reusable shopping

bag or shopping cart. Some larger farmers markets accept

debit or credit cards or even WIC vouchers, but most neighborhood markets are

cash-only affairs. A shopping bag or cart gives you a place to stow your

purchases so that you're not juggling multiple plastic bags, and in some

cases eliminates the need for extra bags altogether for a more eco-friendly

experience.

10. Befriend the farmers. Remember,

the people you're buying from are most likely the people who grow the

food. They can steer you to the best buys of the day, teach you about foods you

might not be familiar with (how often do you buy fennel or celeriac?), and

perhaps reserve something special for you the following week. Besides, part of

the enjoyment of farmers market shopping is that it's personal. Take

advantage of it.

 

-- Diana GonzalezPalmarosa Hand Crafts

Visit my shop!www.palmarosa.etsy.comMy Blogwww.confessionsofacraftaholic.blogspot.com