In honor of Maryland’s Buy Local Challenge Week, I’d like to talk a little bit about why I buy local.
Buying local. It’s something that’s very near and very dear to my heart. If you’ve ever talked to me in real life, we’ve probably reached the point in the conversation where I start waxing romantically about eating local, going to the farmer’s market, the taste of fresh baked bread. Even if you’ve read the blog for a while, you probably have an idea about my love of local, farm fresh food. Remember how excited I got about the opening of the Farmer’s Market?
Hopefully you didn’t roll your eyes–it’s just something I really care about!
Why do I like eating local so much? Well, mainly it’s because it just tastes better. Since local produce is picked at it’s peak ripeness–since there is no need to pick it early so it can be shipped long distances–you get the full flavor. Don’t believe me? Go buy a peach at a roadside stand, then get one from the grocery. I guarantee you the peach from the stand tastes better–like a bit of summer in your hand.
I also enjoy the relationship you can develop with farmers when you buy direct from them at a farmer’s market or roadside stand. We shop the Baltimore Farmer’s Market almost every Sunday from May-December, and so after a while, you get to know people, and I find that they’re all friendly and willing to answer just about ANY question about their produce. Can you freeze this? Can you use this to make that? Any question, they’ve probably got an answer. But even if you’re not on a first name basis with the vendor, I’m sure they’re happy to answer any and all questions. Try finding someone at the grocery store who can even help you find an item, much less tell you what to do with it.
I’ve also learned a lot about my Maryland since we started eating local. Who knew there was a bison farm right up the road, or that Noel LOVES local lamb. And I’ve certainly seen, and eaten, many types of produce I never knew existed before we started frequenting the market. From patty pan squash to kholrabi, there’s a little bit of everything growing on this fine Maryland soil.
I didn’t always eat this way–I ate my fair share of lean cuisine in college, just like everyone else–but now that we do I can’t imagine going back!
So in honor of Maryland’s Buy Local Challenge Week, which runs now through July 25, I’d like to know–do you buy local? Where’s you’re favorite place to buy local produce, and what is your favorite item? If you answer that question, I’ll enter you to win your choice of one of the following locally themed cookbooks:
or
Yeah, I’ve had my eye on both of these for a while, so if you win, I’m going to be jealous!
So just tell me about your favorite local produce source, and be entered to win! I’ll run the contest through the end of the Buy Local Challenge (7/25), so enter away! And if you need to figure our where to find some local produce, check out the Local Challenge website.
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I go to the Kansas City City Market (our giant Farmer’s Market) every Saturday I’m in town. They have the best produce, jams and meats. Plus the local businesses surrounding the market (Burrito Brothers, Bloom Baking Company, and others) all use the produce and products from the Market to make their incredible food. Definitely my favorite place in all of KC!
My favorite items are tomatoes and sweet corn!
I shop at the 32nd Street Farmers Market on Saturdays year round. It may be rainy, cold and miserable during the winter, but it’s worth it to form relationships with the growers!
What great books! I get all my local goods at farmers markets throughout the city and county, especially the one close to my work because it’s so convenient (and makes for a great lunch!)
I go to the 32nd Street Farmers Market (Waverly Market) every Saturday, all year round, I’ve been going regularly for over 4 years now and have met so many great people and have found some great new produce and locally made products to try. My favorite is jams and chutneys from E(squared)Infused Spreads!!
We have a few farmers markets near our house, so we choose between the Troy Farmer’s Market and the Colonie Farmers Market at the Crossings (Troy, NY and Colonie, NY). The other place i LOVE LOVE to shop at is the Honest Weight Food Coop. Local food, great selections, organic, bulk bins…… I love it there!
My fave local produce place is in my village and it is an organic market. Everything is literally grown right down the street from my house and they open up their home and greenhouses every weekend for people to come and tour, pick food right there, or grab stuff from the tables. They even bake bread and sell that.
The bison farm is not too far from my moms house. I used to live out in the middle of nowhere-well Greenspring Valley before they built stuff, and we would have random corn and peach stands, like so random they looked like they were in the middle of nowheere…cause they were.
Last year I joined a CSA – it sucked ass. I paid $25 per week, and for the first four weeks all I got were “carrot bites” and kohlrabi, and no matter what I tried, could not like it. I am jealous of your market!! Check out the link below to see how tiny the carrots were!
http://biz319.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/saturday-csa/
I just love going to the Waverly Farmer’s Market. Lately, I’ve been really into basil (it smells so amazing), so that would be my favorite item to get.
Being so close to Annapolis I have a good share of Farmer’s Markets which are great! (Riva market is my favorite) My CSA has introduced me to some really great veggies. I do eat meat – so noting can beat “My Butcher and More” they even carry Kilby Ice Cream. Yum!
Hey, Beth. I saw your link about eating local on Facebook and decided to check out your blog. I love eating local and we’ve been doing a CSA for the last three years to get most of our veggies. It makes me sad to read that someone else had a bad experience, because I love ours. They deliver the produce to a site about 5 blocks from our house and I walk to pick it up. If anyone else is interested they also deliver in the Baltimore and DC areas (we are in Philly). http://www.lancasterfarmfresh.com/static/controls/csa.aspx We are vegetarian, but you can also order locally raised, organic, grass-fed meats and dairy through their website and they deliver it with your CSA. This week my favorite was beets :)
Beth, I shop at the Saratoga Street Farmers Market this time of year, and at Waverly in the winter. But here’s something I’ve been wondering about Waverly – they had tomatoes, zucchini, and other summer produce in the winter, so does anyone know if the veggies are shipped in? Or is there a greehouse technique to grow summer stuff in the winter? Just throwing that out there in case anyone knows the answer – it’s been nagging at me!
Also, I used to be a CSA member when I lived in New York, and I loved it too. When people have bad experiences, I wonder if it’s because a farmer had a bad growing season. That’s part of the risk of a CSA, but I think it’s also part of the point of having one. Then the farmer can still get a living wage. But I can also respect how hard it must be to pay so much money and get very little veggies to eat each week.
This past weekend I went to the farmer’s market in Gaithersburg (Kentlands) but I also love Butlers Orchard (hand picked blueberries FTW). I do love farmers markets and roadside stands, but my favorite produce always comes from my parents garden. My favorite locally grown item is TOMATOES!
We have a local Farmer’s Market that is open every Saturday morning during the summer. Sadly, I haven’t been able to make it and have plans this coming Saturday which means I won’t be able to get there, yet again. We have a mini-garden in our backyard with tomatoes, peppers (a variety of kinds), basil, and a few other things — so I suppose I’m doing my part is using locally grown veggies. Now, if only I can make it to the Farmer’s Market one of these days!