In no particular order, here’s my top 10.
1. You Never Know Who You’ll See At The Market.
Going to the farmer’s market is a social event … we frequent three different markets in our area (yes, we are blessed), and I cannot remember the last time that we went and did not see someone who we know. Sometimes it is a family member, sometimes a friend from high school, sometimes one of our good friends, sometimes the friend of a sibling, sometimes one of our kids’ friends, sometimes the owner of our local Thai establishment …. the list goes on and on…
2. It Just Tastes Better. I have blogged about this before, but really there is nothing, nothing like eating a snap pea, or a sweet cherry tomato, or a peach, or a lamb merguez sausage, or draining a glass of cold milk or fresh apple cider….
3. What Comes Around Goes Around. My eldest works at a local deli that sources much of what it prepares from local purveyors. Not only has he learned critical kitchen skills, but he is very knowledgeable about butchering meat and the best local cheeses. And our favorite orchard owner has repeatedly asked my daughter when she turns 16 so that she can hire her… as she knows a tremendous amount about different kinds of apples and is quite an engaging young lady.
4. The Beauty Of The Market. I love to photograph the seasons at the market. The abundance of warm colors in the summer is wonderful, but the emergence of different shades of green over the seasons is fascinating to trace too.
5. No More “Who Knows When That Cucumber Was Harvested”? Now I know that it wasn’t the morning of the farmer’s market … because really who harvests produce in the middle of the night?! But I can be pretty sure that greens were harvested with a day or two of market and I know that they haven’t been sitting in plastic clamshell containers.
6. I Control Where My Dollar Goes.
We know who picks my apples. We know who raises the animals who become our meat. We know who raises our veggies. We know the cows who give us our milk…okay, well maybe we don’t know them, but we have seen at least some of them at the dairy!!
7. If You Friend Your Farmer On Facebook, You Can Order Christmas Goose While You Chat With Your Friends. For real.
8. It’s A Family Event. Once the crepes return to the East Falls Church Farmer’s Market, the teens will get up early (well late to the rest of the world, but seriously early to them) to enjoy freshly prepared crepes. And then, once they are there, they join in gleefully in the purchasing of our weekly fare.
9. I Have Greater Control Of The Food Waste My Family Produces. Less packaging is easy to make happen at the farmer’s market. Bring your own bags. And they will reuse egg cartons, and sometimes other cartons too. Just ask!
10. It Starts My Weekend With A Smile. And we all need more smiles in our lives.
Family Foodie Survival Guide 