Skip to content
freeloanfinders

freeloanfinders

Business, Your Way

Primary Menu
  • Interesting Economic
  • Business & Finance
  • Business Market
  • Best Investment
  • Life Insurance
  • Finance
  • About Us
    • Advertise Here
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
  • Home
  • Why you should support your local farmers market
  • Business Market

Why you should support your local farmers market

By Ruth B. Brooks 12 months ago

Ah, summer! Time for trips to the pool, the park and – don’t forget – your local farmers’ market. If you care about small businesses – as I do – then it’s time to support one of the most important types of small businesses in America – the small, local, responsible farmer.

I love farmers’ markets. Always have. Long before the current trend toward shopping at farmers or growers’ markets, I was visiting them wherever I travelled. Perhaps it’s because, although I grew up in Los Angeles where fresh fruits and vegetables are available all year, my Ohio-born mother bought virtually all her produce in the frozen or canned food aisles. It wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered asparagus, artichokes, avocados – and a myriad of fruits and vegetables that started with letters other than “A.” What a revelation!

And then I discovered how good and how different food from the farmers’ market tasted. It took a couple of decades before I ate a “real” tomato – not a supermarket tomato that had been engineered for thick skin for mechanical picking and gassed to turn red, but a tomato grown for taste, picked when ripe and sold soon after picking. Tomatoes are now my favorite food – even beating out chocolate!

Here are just a few reasons to support your local farmers market:

Subscribe to our newsletter:  The Daily Money delivers our top personal finance stories to your inbox

Expand your kids’ palates

It’s easier to get a child to eat their vegetables when they're tasting them fresh instead of frozen or canned – and they've met the farmer who grew them.

Kids love farmers markets. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning (or whatever day your farmers market is held) and it helps them expand their palates. It’s easier for a child to eat their vegetables when they’ve met “Farmer Nick” who handed them the snap pea himself.  It’s so much fun to see kids try the many different varieties of peaches and try to decide which one they like best.

Help for picky eaters:  How to conquer food fears – and when to get help from a disorder

Farmers markets save family farms

While farmers and growers markets are a way for you to obtain the tastiest, freshest, best produce, they’re also the best way for you to support small American farmers. Many, if not most, “local” farms (the definition depends on the individual market-but is often within 100 miles) are owned by one family that has farmed for generation. They struggle from year-to-year, but farmers markets have been a lifeline.

I’ve spoken to many farmers and they tell of almost going out of business before they started selling direct to consumers at farmers markets. When they only sold wholesale to supermarkets and brokers, not only did they get far less per pound for their produce, but they had to throw out much of the food they grew.

Wholesale buyers only want food of specific sizes without any blemishes. You may be perfectly happy buying a three-inch zucchini or “cosmetically challenged” tomatoes (that’s what I buy to make tomato sauce), but the buyer for Kroger or Safeway probably isn’t. 

Farmers markets for all:  How a Black farmer in Los Angeles is making a difference

Farmers markets fight climate change

You not only reduce waste, but help reduce climate change in another way when you shop at a farmers market. Typically, the food at your supermarket or big box store has gone from a farm to a warehouse to a distribution center to a specific store. It’s traveled lots of miles. Food at your farmers market has come straight from the farm. It’s not only days fresher (the lettuce I buy at my farmers market often lasts two weeks!), it’s used up fewer resources to reach your plate.

Many small farms grow organic produce, but even those that are not organic are often more environmentally friendly than big agribusiness. That’s because the small farms at farmers markets generally plant a variety of crops and rotate fields, which requires less pesticide than planting acres and acres of one crop.

Food recall:  FDA investigating outbreak of hepatitis A linked to organic strawberries

Subscribe and save a farmer from having to take out bank loans

A number of farms offer “CSA’s” – Community Supported Agriculture – subscriptions. When you subscribe, you get a weekly or monthly box of produce from that farm.

Paul Muller, one of the owners of Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California, told me that their CSA program enabled them to avoid having to get bank loans at the beginning of each year, because they knew how much cash they would be receiving each month.

The bottom line

Don’t get me wrong: large corporate farms have helped bring down the cost of food and that’s a vital contribution. Americans pay far less for food than people in most developed countries.

But without small farms, we all lose. We lose the best, freshest produce. We lose a great variety of fruits and vegetables. We contribute more to climate change. We lose a fun day out with the family or friends. Over time, we lose farms and farmers. And those are small businesses. So if you love small business, shop at your local farmers markets.

Tags: "Women'S Business Casual, Amazon Fba Business, Atlanta Business Chronicle'S, Boss Baby Back In Business, Business Administration Degree, Business Attire Women, Business Card Design, Business Cards Templates, Business Casual Dress, Business Casual Outfits, Business Checking Account, Business Credit Card, Business For Sale Near Me, Business Intelligence Platform, Business Lawyer Near Me, Business Loan Calculator, Business Name Ideas, Business Professional Women, Business Spectrum Login, California Business Entity Search, Capital One Spark Business, Carl Weber'S The Family Business, Charlotte Business Journal, Custom Business Cards, Delaware Business Search, Fl Sos Business Search, Florida Business Search, Harvard Business Publishing, Insurance For Small Business, Kelley School Of Business, Maryland Business Express, Maryland Business Search", Moo Business Cards, National Business Furniture, New York Business Search, Ohio Business Gateway, Onedrive For Business, Online Business Ideas, Paramore Misery Business, Risky Business Cast, Small Business Insurance, Spectrum Business Customer Service, Tom Cruise Risky Business, Us Small Business Administration, Verizon Wireless Business, Verizon Wireless Business Login, Virtual Business Address, What Is Business Administration, Yelp Business Login, Yelp For Business

Continue Reading

Previous I’m a Custom Clothier and We’re Having a Record Year for Business
Next What Does the S&P 500 Bear Market Mean for You?
May 2023
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Apr    

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • January 2017

Recent Posts

  • Inside the Partnership Marketing System That’s Helped Rajiv Nathan Nearly 2x His Business in 2021
  • 2022 YouTube and Video SERP Result Changes
  • Why Residential Proxies Will Help Grow Your Business Security
  • Athleisure retailer has more share price upside
  • Location and Proximity: How to Rank Your Business for Multiple Location-Based Queries with Ben Fisher

BL

Tags

"Business Insurance Cover Coronavirus 5e Business Profit Ahron Levy Columbia Business School Business Business Consultant Certification Austin Business Letter With Logo Example Business Located Easy Location Business Platform Stocks Business Positions Seattle Business Regulation Legal Services Daystarr For Business Dimagi Business Development Toolkit Do Business Schools Accept Entreprenuers Enironmentall Friendly Business Ideas Eric Early Republican Business Owner Essec Business School Dean Essential Business To Remain Open Example Small Business Fall Winter Business Hours Template Fdot Woman Owned Business Certification First Business Women United States First Com Business Fixing A Damaged Reputation Business Florida Business Enforcement Free Small Business Communication Tool Law School Business Entity Outlines Mapping A Business Location Medical Business Trends Economics Mix Business And Personal Money Mlm Nit Small Business Legally New Business Agency Sales Questions Patricia Saiki Women'S Business 1990 Safety Business Proposal Sample Business Plan Entrepreneur School Business Administration Positions S Corp Business Deductions Search Tx Business Llc Sentextsolutions Business Cards Signs For Business On Roads Skype For Business Recording Capacity" Small Business Forums .Net Small Business Insurancr Tech Monkey Business Ttu Business Cards Template Turbotax Business Nys Forms
freeloanfinders.com | Magazine 7 by AF themes.

WhatsApp us