Farmer’s markets

You’ve heard it over and over again – for optimum health, eat more fruits and vegetables. And it's true! So now, when fresh summer produce is abundant, it's a wonderful time to start.

Much of the produce sold in U.S. supermarkets is grown in developing countries, where sanitation is often less than ideal. Unfortunately, the FDA doesn’t have sufficient resources for inspecting most of what is brought in. Numerous wide-spread outbreaks of food-borne illness are a sad reminder of this.

Economic, environmental and nutritional disadvantages also come to mind when fresh food travels thousands of miles to reach our tables.

For me, the biggest drawback to grocery store produce is taste. That’s why I’m a big fan of local, seasonal produce.

And what better place to find deliciously fresh fruits and vegetables than your local farmer's market?

If you've never visited a farmer’s market, now is a wonderful time to go. (I know, many of them take place on Shabbat. But larger cities often have mid-week markets as well.)

There’s a lot to be said about eating food purchased from a farmer’s market.

It's reassuring to know where your food comes from. You know that you’re eating freshly picked produce that traveled only a short distance. It may even be organically grown. You’re supporting regional agriculture and local farms. You can actually talk with the farmer! You get to taste more unusual produce that may never make it to the supermarket. Or maybe just regular produce – like tomatoes that taste like tomatoes and not wood.

The photos are of a small farmer’s market in California that we visited last May. We bought salad mix, tomatoes, tender green beans and a variety of fresh fruit at the market. On the way back to our children’s house we stopped at Trader Joe’s for (Israeli) feta cheese, walnuts (to add to the salad) and a kosher whole-grain baguette. That’s the kind of easy, nutritious and delicious dinner I could eat all summer!