A few years ago I spent a couple of days in San Francisco, showing the beautiful city to Sara, the twenty-five-year-old daughter of an Italian friend of mine.
After driving around sightseeing and taking pictures of the usual landmarks, Sara couldn’t wait to go downtown to do some shopping. She was mesmerized by the beautiful shops and their overwhelming offer of merchandise and told me that she would have liked to buy almost everything, Her enthusiasm was so amusing that I followed her from store to store for a couple of hours, giving my advice when asked, happy to watch her happiness while she filled shopping bag after shopping bag of souvenirs and gifts for friends and relatives back home.
Fortunately, a different kind of appetite came to my rescue, putting an end to Sara’s shopping spree. She suddenly remembered that I had promised to take her to lunch to a special place and we went back to my car. While she was putting her loot in the trunk, she suddenly realized that I hadn’t bought a single thing.
“You don’t even look at purses and shoes,” she observed “and you barely stop in front of jewelries. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you desire anything?”
Over lunch, I explained to Sara that it was a matter of age – as in “been there – done-that, too many times” – and consequently having already too much stuff cluttering my closet, but also a matter of choice. I had in mind a couple of places where I was planning to shop the following day, a Saturday.
She tried to guess what such places could be and why we couldn’t go that same afternoon, but she finally gave up when I told her that one of the places didn’t exist, yet.
You can imagine her surprise when, the following morning, I walked her to the San Francisco Farmers’ Market.
“This is where you like to shop?” Sara asked, looking around in disbelief.
Her turn had come to watch me going from stand to stand like a bee, filling recyclable grocery bag after recyclable grocery bag with all sorts of produce, cheese, seafood, flowers, preserves, and honey to bring back home.
When both of us had more bags than we could carry – and some more – Sara decided to put a stop to my compulsory shopping.
“Now I understand what your weak point is! How can we possibly eat all this food?”
On the way home, we stopped at one of my favorite nurseries, and the scene repeated itself. Like Sara the day before, I could have bought almost everything without thinking twice about the money or the lack of space in my garden. Well, you can always make room in your yard for one more plant, or in your pantry and your fridge for the food you love, right?
I’ve loved plants since I can remember. I used to go fishing with my father in spite of the ungodly hours I had to wake up at, just because one of his favorite fishing spots was an area famous for its vegetable gardens. I never caught a single fish because I spent the whole time pestering the growers with questions about their crops.
I cannot resist the attraction of a Farmers’ Market and, after all, why should I?
Farmers’ Markets are beautiful places, each one different and unique but with a common characteristic: they are full of fresh and tasty products that are good both for us and for the environment because they are local.
Farmers’ Markets throb with the typical vitality and enthusiasm of delighted customers and dedicated vendors, who consider their job more a mission than a business.
If you have ever canned anything, you must admit that it does indeed take a lot of passion and commitment to can eight thousand jars of different preserves, as does the lady from whom I regularly buy a delicious jalapeno jelly. Or the guy who moves his beehives to distant locations to get different types of honey: I wish you could try the orange blossom honey I buy from him!
All farmers’ markets are different but you can always count on the quality and freshness of the products, especially agricultural products. In fact, it is illegal for farmers to buy and re-sell agricultural products at a Certified Farmers’ Market. A Certified Farmers’ Market is a location, certified by the Agricultural Commissioner, where producers sell only their own fruits and vegetables directly to consumers.
A FM is also a place for learning more about your food. Ask the farmers where their farm is, what varieties they grow, what they do for pest control, and when is the harvest season of the food you are buying. Ask them how to preserve and cook their produce, you’ll be amazed of how knowledgeable they are and how much you can learn from them.
I will never get tired of repeating that it’s demand that creates supply. Support your local organic farmers by patronizing Farmers’ Markets, check where your closest FM is, get in the habit of shopping there, and make it the destination of a daily trip for the whole family. They are lively places, where your children can learn much healthier habits than at the local mall.
Do something different! Go out, find a Farmers’ Market, take your time to shop, try something new, take home a week supply of fresh produce, jam, eggs and bread, and whatever else inspires you.
I promise you’ll return home happy, energized, and motivated to cook new and healthy dishes. Don’t I look happy in this picture?
