10 Things you Never Knew About Farmers Markets
Not Your Average Shopping Experience
The Farmers Market is not the place you go for your plastic nick-nack or throw-away item no-one really needs. The Farmers Market is much more of a rounded sensory experience and well worth the trip for your health as well.
1. Local People Benefiting
A local Farmers Market is for local people. Supporting what people do every day. The “Locals”!
You get to see the benefits of where your money is going and get to choose who to give it to right there and then. There is little mystery, unlike what you find in a giant supermarket or conglomerate. In the marketplace, your money is not going to profiteering or offshore accounts which aren’t taxed and don’t give back to the area. It goes directly to your neighbours. The people who are invested.
The Farmers Market is the place where your money talks loudest too. If there is a product which you and others don’t like or think is inappropriate, it will be phased out purely by the buying power of the local attendees.
When you are next at a Farmers Market, watch where you spend your money and notice who it is benefiting, it will gladden your heart.
2. Community Spirit
The Farmers Market is a community maker. You mingle with people from your local area. People you may never have seen before or spoken to. They may be there every week, or once every six months.
No longer the mystery people sitting indoors. You become part of a community of people sharing your knowledge, patter and wealth with other local people. You have a common ideology and you are making the Farmers Market the place to be.
Remember how it felt when someone was all alone at a party? You see them standing there looking awkwardly looking around. Then you see someone else include them, talk to them and make them feel special. That’s community for you. Investing in those around you not only lightens their day but according to studies also lifts our spirits.
3. Experts on Hand
Visiting a Farmers Market allows you to engage with experts on the products they are selling. How many times have you had free advice without asking? Like buying a fresh piece of locally sourced meat from the farm and the Stall Owner asks what you are going to make with it.
Stall owners go out of their way to suggest new ways of cooking food, and suggest spices and veg to add to our meals. They’ll even recommend other vendors or markets where you could purchase some of those items if they are not there on the day you attend.
Seen the lady at the soap stall? Ask her what she recommends for dry hair or a relaxing night’s sleep. You’ll be amazed at the advice. Stall Owners have an encyclopedic knowledge of the products they sell, becuase they are interested and want you to keep coming back.
4. Seasonal Foods
One place where you can follow the seasonal flavours is the Farmers Market. In tune with our bodies, the turnips and brussel sprouts emerge for the winter and the lush lettuce and spinach appear for the summer. This seasonal eating has been shown to improve our ability to “cope” with the season we are in. Visit Eat the Seasons or Seasonal Fruit to learn more.
Eating seasonal foods means the foods are local to you. If you are indulging in cherries in the depths of winter then it came from a place that was far far away. There is so much to eat to match each season, the Farmers Market will introduce you to foods that you may have forgotten even existed.
Don’t let the “easy” option be the lowest common denominator for your choice of food. Rather choose foods that will sustain you and awaken your taste buds. There’s more to eating a banana every day!
5. Reduce the Carbon
We know we need to reduce carbon emissions to improve our planet. More journeys mean more carbon, so if I need to bring a tomato from Spain so I can have a salad tonight I have contributed to those emissions – because I paid, I voted for that system!
Instead, have something local tonight. The journey is generally shorter, the produce fresher and more appropriate to the season you are in.
Take your bike, walk, or use the train or bus to get there if you can. You are not buying for the next month, you are buying to eat for the next few days. You don’t need to buy lots of food when you buy wholesome food. There are less bulking agents and real fresh food allows our bodies to digest it slower.
Plus the exercise will be great. Oh, and no moaning about the weather – it’s only a poor choice of clothes that causes all the upset! You don’t hear ducks complaining!
6. Reputation at Stake!
When visiting a Farmers Market every stall owner’s reputation is at stake. Last year when visiting a local market I bought some Lorne sausage (a square sausage made in Scotland). The stall I purchased it from had some really interesting flavours and the owner was willing to talk about what he was doing and making. It was very interesting.
After getting home and frying the Lorne sausage it produced a cup and a half of fat and left a small amount of meat. Needless to say, I returned the following week and discussed this with the stall owner who was highly embarrassed and gave me another pack to try free of charge to maintain his reputation, apologising for the unintended experience.
The Farmers Market is a place for Stall Owners to uphold their reputation. If you are unhappy you can return and discuss the matter. If it is unresolved you can avoid that stall and choose another in its place. The buying power the customer has is key to ensuring the best products and best service are always sought.
7. Networking
Earlier in the article we said that the marketplace was great for community, but it is ideal for networking. There may be opportunities to have your products stocked by a Stall Owner or meet someone interested in the services you provide during the week.
Networking doesn’t just stop there either. Meeting people in the marketplace can lead to further contacts and further business within a field completely different to what you went for. That is the power of the word of mouth.
I recently went to buy some vegetables only to end up speaking to the barista and find out he runs a company that plans company days out for businesses. That leads to more business for him and another contact for me to pass on.
Get talking, it’s the OLD form of social media!
8. Taste bud Extravaganza
What a place to try new flavours, smell interesting foods, and see your meal being prepared over hot coals or from a hot pot in front of you. Even now my taste buds are watering writing this as I think about the flame-grilled burger I had recently over an open coal fire. It had cheese melted over the top and it tasted delicious.
There were also curry dishes freshly made, and fresh hot soups with fresh bread for the chilly day we had. All those smells and tastes make the Farmers Market the place to try some special home-cooked food.
I like it when you have a pop-up event too. To try new flavours and then they’re gone.
9. Alzheimer BEWARE!
It is a well-known fact that mental stimulation is one key element in combating or delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Of course, doing the daily crossword or Sudoku puzzle is stimulating, but try a Farmers Market for stimulation.
The cognitive processes required to navigate and find what you are looking for, the purchase price, the barter, the change you are given from payment. These are all cognitive. Then there is communication among other people, an environment where there is noise, aromas and movement. Your senses are all in action when visiting a market.
You are interacting and you are being mentally stimulated. See Staying Mentally Active and Mental Stimulation for a more in-depth look.
10. Variety
There is variety in a Farmers Market. I have left this till last because it is the overarching draw to the marketplace.
From food stalls to people meeting and catching up, no two visits will be alike. Each Farmers Market is a “one-off”. There will be different conversations, different meetings and produce and often different networking opportunities from one week to the next.
The ability to choose from the variety available will get your brain working. You’ll need to think of new recipes, talk about different ways of cooking, and learn that rosemary soap is invigorating, but also antibacterial!
Conclusion
To sum up, the 10 things you didn’t know about the Farmer’s Market in one word would have to be Number 10 – Variety. Supporting your local community and enjoying the experience of being in a marketplace benefits you directly and the people you meet.
Take an hour out of your busy life to try a new flavour or buy fresh locally sourced vegetables. Perhaps the bakery is the main reason for visiting and savouring the flavours of fresh local food or picking up a home-made lunch is what you went for. Preservative free!
#eatrighttonight and enjoy your next Farmers Market
