Local Harvest

Would you go to a farmer's market or a supermarket to get organic produce?

If I had to choose, I'd go to the farmer's market. I'd opt for local before anything else.

Why?

If you'd like a more technical answer:

When you buy direct from local farmers, your dollars stay within your community, and strengthen the local economy. More than 90¢ of every dollar you spend goes to the farmer, thus preserving farming as a livelihood and farmland. This is important because as mergers in the food industry have increased, the portion of your food dollar paid to farmers has decreased. Vegetable farmers earn only 21¢ of your dollar; the other 79¢ goes to pay for marketing, distribution, and other costs.
(sources: Spector, Rebecca. “Fully Integrating Food Systems: Regaining Connections between Farmers and Consumers" Edited by Kimbrell, Andrew. (2002) & Starr, Amory; Card, Adrian; Benepe, Carolyn; Auld, Garry; Lamm, Dennis; Smith, Ken; Wilken, Karen. Barriers and Opportunities to Local Agricultural Purchasing by Restaurants and Institutional Food Buyers. Colorado State University, Department of Sociology. April, 2002.)

For me, I feel that it is more appealing and satisfying to know that your food was planted only a few miles away and to see the man/woman selling it to you has had a hand in planting, growing, and harvesting it. It feels great to know what you're getting exactly (they will tell you everything you need to know about the produce). Also, if I were in the farmer's shoes, I'd probably be more appreciative for your business because it's my harvest is my livelihood. I'm a huge believer in supporting local businesses because as a community, it is the RIGHT thing to do. It's what sustains local economy and local living.

The benefit is also great health-wise, the food you're buying and eating is fresh and cleaner. It's not packed w/ any chemicals to sustain the look of "freshness" after thousands of miles of travel before reaching your shopping cart.

And unlike the myth how "expensive" organic is, if you're on a budget, once you've suscribed to CSA (local harvest), you'll find out the price is VERY reasonable. It fits perfectly into your budget, and if you think the weekly price is still too expensive ($13-$20 --this includes delivery), you can actually request another friend to share the produce with you so you end up paying half.

Then there's the "fun" factor. Have you ever gone to the Farmer's market before? You'll find friendly faces, different culinary to try out, new recipes given out, free live music, fresh produce and just warm fuzzy feeling of being a member of a community. You'll feel good, you'll learn new things, you'll have fun.

So yes, if you haven't done it, go find your local farmer's market, try making it a trip (walk over there if you'd like!) with the whole family. I promise, you'll love it.