5 tips for the farmers market

It’s peak farmers market season and the stalls are overflowing with piles of attractively arranged yummy fruits and veggies. Buying local and eating organic sounds good, but there are so many choices, and it’s easy to overspend. Here are five tips to help you get the most bang for your buck at the stalls this fall: Is it really local? Not all farm stands represent your local farmers. There are a few ways to tell. The market in our town features an online newsletter, and every week, they send out a list of farmers market vendors. Most have a link, and it’s easy to see which ones are truly local family farms. Other ways to tell if the vendors aren’t local include large produce distributor trucks, or produce that’s out-of-season, packaged in plastic, or from another climate. If you see any of those things, then chances are Big Agro is muscling in on the local food movement. Is it really organic? It’s okay to ask. Many farms use pesticides, for many reasons. Organic farming is hard. Natural produce is also natural-looking, and customers used to seeing perfect produce in the grocery store can be turned off by irregular shapes and harmless spots. Here’s the thing: flawless and shiny fruits and veggies are more likely to contain pesticide residue, as well as be coated with chemicals like petroleum jelly and mineral oil. Does it matter if it’s organic? There is evidence suggesting that pesticides not only interfere with fertility, but also are harmful to the developin...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Food as medicine Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs