But before you read this…do this: Vote for the LFM’s chance to win $10,000. Thanks!
Last week, lost in my summer cocktail expedition, I completely missed the turn for National Farmers Market Week (August 7-13 for those taking notes). Recalculating….
The good news is that here in Lansdowne we have Farmers Market Week every week, from Memorial Day to Halloween…so I can gracefully self-correct. I do urge you, when you have the time, to click on the link above. You may not be surprised, but you’re sure to be enlightened.
From the first time we scratched the soil with a stick, humans realized that by growing their own food, they could put down roots of their own, feed their family and create whole civilizations. That seems like a lot to expect from a potato or stalk of grain, but they had help…farmers. The world would never be the same.
Here in the U.S., with the onset of electricity, long-distance refrigeration and supermarket convenience, the connection between farm and table got a bit lost. But today, we’re learning that value isn’t about what we save, but what we gain. America is rejoining the global concept of where food comes from and rethinking how and what we eat. And food that makes the fewest stops between soil and suppertime gives us the biggest bang for our bucks.
I’m not suggesting jettisoning that superstore altogether…else you would never have an avocado or mango from halfway around the world. Also…that’s where they sell the ice cream! But when you have access to seasonal foods grown just down the road, or even in your very own backyard, you are retracing and reawakening ancient roots. And that not only tastes good…it feels good.
Farmers markets, once only found on dusty turnoffs on your way to someplace else, have gone from detour to destination. In fact, they’ve become a point of pride in neighborhoods both urban and sub…a place for making and meeting friends; a place to go for goods and gossip. They’ve gone beyond food to become a venue for local entrepreneurs selling everything from art to artisanal beer.
There are some of us…OK, me…who remember when you went store to store…the butcher, the baker, the green grocer, and milk was delivered to your door. Food was local and it was mostly seasonal…the apples, peaches, pears and plums, the watermelons and the corn, were grown on farms within a country drive distance. We didn’t know about Amana freezers. We had “ice boxes” from Frigidaire; we bought what was needed and only what we could consume in time. And the ice cream went first!
I don’t imagine we’ll ever return to yesteryear, but we are learning about the pitfalls of mass production, the antibiotics and additives used in engineered crops and medicated livestock. Saving pennies may be costing us years.
Thank goodness for our farmers, who have resisted turning a profit by replacing their fields with fairways, arable land into landscape, and trading the unpredictability of the seasons for a comfy retirement. Who could blame them if they did exactly that? Probably us, actually. We’re still learning.
Still looking for some good summer reads…stop by the Market Tent with your latest fave and collect a Market Buck. Please be sure to read ALL of the LFM newsletter, with the schedule of vendors. And don’t forget a last-minute check in on our LFM FB page for any changes to the line-up.
ALSO TO VOTE FOR THE LFM AS THE BEST FARMERS MARKET.
Stay cool, everyone! Don’t forget to hydrate!
Terry Baraldi