Farmer's Market: the Cheap Way to Get Top Quality Produce

Tired of paying premium price for premium food? Anyone can go into their local whole foods, Wild oats, or Good food co-op and pay top dollar for the healthiest freshest food, but is this really the only option consumers have for eating healthy and fresh? Take a look into your local farmer's market and my guess would be that you will find quality produce, for a reasonable price.

In the early morning on Wednesdays and Saturdays Old Vine Street in Lexington Kentucky is bustling with activity. Not the activity of a large city center with taxi cabs and what not, but the activity of the local farmer's market which sets up in hopes of drawing people from all around the city, and bringing them in to buy directly from the farmers of the surrounding areas.

Booths line both sides of the side walk and take up one lane of traffic on Old Vine Street as farmers and vendors bring forth the finest of their crop, fetching good prices for cabbage, tomatoes, peaches, and almost anything else which can be found in this region during this time of the year. "The cantaloupe is to die for" is over heard as one customer samples a bite from an exposed cantaloupe. Many people come from all over the city on Saturday mornings just after 9am as the market gets under full swing. The produce matches the selection of any local grocery store and the prices are similar if not lower. There is something to be said for buying your food straight from the farmer and as many have come to find the USDA certified organic food also tends to be a bit better tasting.

Straight produce is not the only commodity featured at these weekly markets. The plants themselves are also for sale. Many vendors feature tomato plants, grape vines, and a variety of Herbs and spices, which can rival any chef's spice rack. Herbs such as basil, Thyme, and cinnamon dot the tables. Flowers also tend to be a popular item at the local farmer's market, many a young lady can pick up fresh cut flowers, bouquets, or even hanging baskets of purple and pink flowers spewing forth all sorts of fragrances.

Sounds great does it not? A farmer's market where produce is fresh and clean and cheap! Well this is not an anomaly seen only in Lexington KY, no these farmer's markets take place in the downtown centers of most cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and all of the other various cosmopolitan scenes. As a matter of fact the majority of larger cities such as Los Angeles have multiple markets where the competition for customers is even higher and prices tend to fall even lower as the day lags on and temperatures rise. Regardless of which city you live in, one can be assured that buying directly from the farmer will always be the better deal, even if not seen directly through price the indirect consequences of helping to sustain the smaller farms will be seen in the long run. Local farmers sell the majority of their crops to large processing plants, which then package such produce and ship it off to another state or even country. Try making some cookies at home with your own ingredients and see where your chocolate comes from, or your sugar, or even your butter. Most of the foods we eat on a daily basis are traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles to get to us. These local farmer's markets are one way in which people can get fresh produce straight from the nearby countryside with little or no hassle. Try and google your local farmer's market or simply ask around. I guarantee once you have been to one, you will never look at that supermarket shelf of week old veggies the same way again.