Hosting a farmer's market is a big step a community can take in going local. It allows people who may not have that much experience or knowledge about local, sustainable food to sample and shop their way into a new lifestyle... at least for a few meals.
Scarsdale's market has a really good diversity and number of vendors that sell everything from rich chocolate milk to crispy apples to savory pre-cooked meals (both vegetarian and meat-based). I have not yet been to a market in NYC (I know, I know, I have to go to the market in Union Square) but I would like to write about more than just the farmer's markets as shopping venues. There is a new approach, even newer than going local, that is looking at these markets as ways to broaden access to fresh foods for low-income families, as places to spread the word about charities, national or community issues; and a way to keep money moving within a small region.
These efforts are in my opinion some of the best reasons to eat local food (even aside from the environmental and physical health reasons). Especially in these bleak economic times, families who had little access to fresh, healthy, unprocessed foods are now even more vulnerable to communities that are "food desserts," meaning, areas that have little to no access to fresh foods and are host mainly to fast-food restaurants. Now, because food stamps are now paperless, low-income families can obtain nutritious, fresh foods from the same markets that foodies and environmentalists visit.
The only flaw in this new system is that prices at farmer's markets tend to be higher. They are higher because the food is grown/raised sustainably, in small quantities, etc. But, that does not change the prices. And for families who struggle to feed themselves even with cheap food, a $35 chicken just won't cut it. My family is far from struggling to feed ourselves, but even we sometimes gawk at the $6 half-pints of cherries or the $5 eggs. For me, one of the most enjoyable parts of my week is riding my bike with my dad or walking with my sister to the farmer's market and picking out the freshest, yummiest, and most nutritious foods we can find and coming home and cooking it up. Despite the joy this brings me, I certainly am aware of the shock that a home-cooked dinner can cost nearly as much as some restaurant meals.
Farmer's markets
