Farmers' Market Bliss

If you start with mediocre ingredients, you'll end up with a mediocre meal (we've all heard the saying "garbage in, garbage out".) But when you start with fresh, good quality ingredients, you've just upped your odds on creating a flavorful and delicious meal. Since deciding to become a better cook I've been going to the farmers' market at Sunrise Mall. I have bought fresh produce, fresh eggs as well as a beautiful perennial herb garden.

I thought about signing up for a local CSA, but I just don't think that's for me at this stage of the game. The loss of control over what produce I will get kinda intimidates me! At this point I would rather pick and choose the items that I am comfortable cooking. Shopping at a farmers' market is just my speed. It feels good on several levels: 1) I am getting fresh items that are in season. 2) By buying from the small farmers directly I am helping to sustain a group who's dedication to their trade leads them to a life of very low wages. 3) I am helping to reduce my carbon footprint. This is a point that I never considered until recently. I never considered how much better it is for the environment to shop locally until I heard a report that laid it out for me. Buying tomatoes from someone who grew them 20 miles from here is much better than buying from someone who grew them 500 miles from here...thus having to truck them across the state to get them to my local grocery store. Duh!!!!

For all these reasons, I just get a warm fuzzy feeling as I stroll up and down the row at my local farmers' market, and I am looking forward to many Saturdays spent there.

So what's your favorite part of your local farmers' market?