eat me, I'm organic

I looooove going to the Farmer's Market every Saturday. I never thought I would be one of those people able to get up early on their day off just to go buy produce. Suddenly I am. But it's so much more than that. I grew up going to art festivals, cultural festivals, county fairs. My Mother and Grandmother used to pack me and my sisters into matching dresses and strollers with big diaper bags hanging from their shoulders, and off we'd go. So going to the Farmer's Market each week is like a continuation of that.

Going to the farmer's market also allows us to be purposeful and aware of our food in a way that the grocery store, and in some ways even our beloved co-op, doesn't let us be. It gives me one on one contact with the people who grown what I eat. I know that the lady I buy peppers from every week picks them the night before and stores them in her garage , which is right next to her greenhouse. Sometimes she ever tells me about what was going on when she was picking them. Today she told me she got them picked just before it started to rain last night. A few weeks ago she told me she had picked them three hours before, by flashlight. The stand where I get my onions and carrots is run by a lady who's dream was to own an organic farm. Every week she tells people how happy she is she took the chance and gave up her desk job. The guy I buy radishes from wears a cowboy hat and has a dog named Buddy. Buddy loves people, but obediently sits on the back of his owners truck the whole morning. The lady I buy flowers from every week laments the fact that she's too busy selling flowers to go buy stuff herself. I could go on and on, but my point is that I know these people now. I know where my money is going, and it's going directly to the people who sell or make what I'm buying.

The other thing I really enjoy about the market is that it's guilt-free shopping. Instead of buying more t-shirts or brick-a-brack that I don't need, I'm buying carrots and zucchini that will feed and nourish my body all week. Brian and I try to be very purposeful about what we buy, and the market--while feeling like a weekly shopping spree--is really just 80% of my grocery shopping.

Next week my sister and father will be in town, and I'm planning on taking them with us to the market. My Dad really enjoys the same type of things that I do, it's just sometimes it takes a little push in the right direction to remind him. So I'm hoping that visiting the market will be a push, and that he'll go home and start going to the local farmer's market with my mother.