This is a beginner's guide to shopping at your downtown farmers market during a work day for people who don't know anything about fruit and vegetables, and don't particularly like to cook.
Shopping at your neighborhood's farmers market is an item on Neighbors Project's Neighbors Checklist because you're likely to meet your neighbors at that type of market. Those markets are usually on the weekend. But shopping at your downtown farmers market is also neighborly because buying your groceries in batches from multiple locations tends to increase your likelihood of supporting local stores and farms and decrease your likelihood of using a car to buy groceries. Having lived in a neighborhood that tended to get saturated with people driving to the nearby Costco every Saturday morning, I can assure you that that type of shopping ain't neighborly. Thanks to the people in cars, the streets with the local shops and neighborhood institutions were noisy, dangerous to cross and smelly; not exactly conducive to local businesses and chatting with your neighbors on the street.
I hate cooking (except baking) and don't know much about food in general. So it's really important for me to have good fruit, vegetables, cheese, breads and other basics around. That's what I slap together for meals. Otherwise I'll make myself sick eating an entire cake or bag of candy or pick up a slice. So getting basics from a farmers market is a key part of be a reasonably healthy and energetic person for me.
To do this Instructable, you'll need:
-Canvass or plastic bag(s)
-Transit pass or money for your train/bus commute
-A farmers market within walking distance of your job
-Money
This is written mostly for people who work in a walkable downtown and commute by train or bus.
Shopping at your neighborhood's farmers market is an item on Neighbors Project's Neighbors Checklist because you're likely to meet your neighbors at that type of market. Those markets are usually on the weekend. But shopping at your downtown farmers market is also neighborly because buying your groceries in batches from multiple locations tends to increase your likelihood of supporting local stores and farms and decrease your likelihood of using a car to buy groceries. Having lived in a neighborhood that tended to get saturated with people driving to the nearby Costco every Saturday morning, I can assure you that that type of shopping ain't neighborly. Thanks to the people in cars, the streets with the local shops and neighborhood institutions were noisy, dangerous to cross and smelly; not exactly conducive to local businesses and chatting with your neighbors on the street.
I hate cooking (except baking) and don't know much about food in general. So it's really important for me to have good fruit, vegetables, cheese, breads and other basics around. That's what I slap together for meals. Otherwise I'll make myself sick eating an entire cake or bag of candy or pick up a slice. So getting basics from a farmers market is a key part of be a reasonably healthy and energetic person for me.
To do this Instructable, you'll need:
-Canvass or plastic bag(s)
-Transit pass or money for your train/bus commute
-A farmers market within walking distance of your job
-Money
This is written mostly for people who work in a walkable downtown and commute by train or bus.
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Signing UpStep 1: Find your Market
You may have already noticed the farmers market in your city's downtown. San Francisco has markets on Market Street between 7th and 8th Streets almost all day on Wednesday, and a market at the end of Market Street in front of the ferry building on Tuesdays. New York City has a market in Union Square, and lots of other places, including in Downtown Brooklyn, during the week. And Chicago has a very popular market in Daley Plaza and near the downtown post office on weekdays. I'm sure lots of other cities have them too.
If you don't know if there's one near you, and are unsure of when it is, just google for it or ask one of your co-workers or your friends who you've seen with a bag from the market. The one I went to at the Civic Center in San Francisco runs from the early morning to 5:30 pm on Wednesday, but many markets don't operate beyond the late afternoon. Since downtown farmers markets usually only operate on one or two days of the weekday and are seasonal (San Francisco's markets are year round), it can be easy to forget. I recommend that you put it as a recurring appointment in your work and personal calendars so that it just becomes part of your routine.
If you don't know if there's one near you, and are unsure of when it is, just google for it or ask one of your co-workers or your friends who you've seen with a bag from the market. The one I went to at the Civic Center in San Francisco runs from the early morning to 5:30 pm on Wednesday, but many markets don't operate beyond the late afternoon. Since downtown farmers markets usually only operate on one or two days of the weekday and are seasonal (San Francisco's markets are year round), it can be easy to forget. I recommend that you put it as a recurring appointment in your work and personal calendars so that it just becomes part of your routine.
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5 stars!
My idea is to ignore the "go nuts" and go slow. Buy one or two more things than last week, and stop when you start throwing away food that rots.
cheers!
That said, I bought food for a house of 30+ at Haymarket for years, and it can be a fantastic place to shop. Just get to know the vendors (showing up every week, being generally friendly, and bringing them Christmas cookies helps) and they'll take good care of you when picking your fruit/veggies and letting you know which are good that week.
There are lots of farmers' markets in the Boston area - I used to follow Stillman's Farm to different markets for their excellent Mirai corn. They run a great CSA, and have even started a meat CSA. Highly recommended.