Locavore's Guide to St. Louis Markets

I grew up in a neighborhood that was in a different age and time. It was a very old neighborhood located in the near south side of St. Louis, Missouri. Some of the houses dated back to before the Civil War. We still had a coal furnace when everybody else had gas or electric. I didn't see the inside of a supermarket or a fast food restaurant until I was sixteen-years-old.

We had two local stores that we used to buy our meat and dry goods. George was a Greek immigrant that owned one of them. It was a small place with sawdust on the floor. You wrote your grocery request on a piece of paper and George went into the back and assembled your order with a cherry picker and placed it in a cardboard box.

For all of our fresh baked goods and fruits and vegetables we went down to Soulard Farmer's Market. The market dates back to the 1700's and is one of the oldest in the country. Every Saturday morning my grandfather and I would walk the mile or so to get down to the market. We had one of those wire baskets on wheels and we would load up all of our groceries and make the trek back home, usually stopping for a coney dog along the way.

The market was a collection of stalls that were manned by the local farmers. I don't think that anything in the market came from more than an hour's drive away. There were even live chickens and squirrels and rabbits for sale. You could even buy exotic fare like a whole pig's head if you wanted to. And you could also save money by haggling with the vendor just like they did in the past.

We didn't know it back then, but we were what you would now call "locavores." Today that means that we would buy almost all of our food fresh from local farmers instead of buying processed food or produce that is shipped from all over the world. Being a locavore is more healthy and saves all the energy costs and pollution that comes from shipping the food over long distances.

Below is a guide that shows some of the markets that local locavores can go to get their fix. According to the Healthy Planet Magazine:

Rain Crow Ranch sells only 100% free range grass-fed beef. Grass fed beef is a lot healthier than the slaughterhouse corn-fed variety. It is leaner and has a lot more omega-3 fatty acids than its heavily marbled far distant cousin. You can find their products at many local restaurants and grocery stores.

Butler's Pantry is a full-service caterer that specializes in locally grown food. Bixby's Restaurant is located at the Missouri History Museum. Their motto is: "dining with local influence." The food products that they receive from Double Star Farm is always fresh, organic, and grown in a sustainable manner. Visit them and see how "Fresh is Best."

Dierbergs is a local family-owned supermarket that buys a lot of locally grown produce and vegetables from area farms. Homegrown peaches from Bader Farms in Campbell, Missouri is a good example of that. Why do these peaches taste better? Since they don't have to be shipped across the country, they can be picked at their peak of ripeness. That increases the sugar content and the flavor. Other local markets that purchase locally include: Freddie's, Straub's, Schnuck's, and Whole Foods.

And as far as farmer's markets go, there are a number of them scattered about the area including at Schlafly Brewery in Maplewood and at Tower Grove Park near Grand Avenue. And let's not forget two of the best: Soulard Farmers Market and Sappington Farmer's Market in Crestwood.

Source: http://thehealthyplanet.com/2011/07/locavore%E2%80%99s-guide-to-food-drink/