This weekend, Robert and I went to a big, state-run farmer's market that's about half an hour drive east of my apartment and that is open 7 days a week. I finally got some herbs to plant in my container garden - two kinds of basil, thyme, rosemary, and oregano (which are now planted and ready to generate lasagna ingredients, etc., for months to come). Robert picked out a nice selection of fruit and veg, and I talked him into buying a small jar of honey for "medicinal" purposes. Everything we bought was locally grown and the same price or cheaper than Wal-Mart prices, let alone normal grocery store prices or Whole Foods prices. (Even the potting soil I bought at the seed store at the market was cheaper than what the identical product sells for at Lowe's.)
I think that when it comes to taste, having food be locally grown is much more important than having it be organic. (Of course, locally grown food often is organic, but certainly not always.) For example, I was expecting the tomatoes to be yummier than supermarket tomatoes, but was surprised that the various locally grown berries and especially the honey was yummier than their supermarket counterparts. By contrast, I've not generally found organic but not local produce from stores like Whole Foods to be consistently appreciably tastier than other produce, especially if you consider how much more expensive it is.
It seems there are a lot of farmer's markets in NC. There are several in W-S that are held on particular days of the week. Robert is fortunate to have a small one occur outside his office building in Raleigh every Wednesday. Last weekend, he brought me some asparagus he had purchased from that market and we roasted it with olive oil and a bit of seasoned salt - yum. Seriously, I could have eaten the entire pound of it myself.
If you haven't been to a farmer's market recently, this summer is a good time to check one out. Peach season is just around the corner!
3 comments:
Sounds yummy. We've been loving our bi-weekly CSA boxes. Since Rick no longer gets eggs from his former co-worker (who has his own chickens), we have started going to a co-op (which sells pastured eggs that we can also get at the weekend farmer's markets) that has some amazing produce (mostly local and organic). The strawberries were particularly beautiful. Definitely love farmer's markets and local food over the industrial food system any day. It tastes great and lasts so much longer!
I've heard of these farmer's markets that have good prices. I'm glad one exists near you. Sounds like a good first-stop shopping place.
Yeah, switching to pastured eggs has been a total boon for us. The flavor and texture difference is very noticeable and the soufflés they produce is fantastic. You can tell it was a healthy bird that laid the egg just by how tough the shell and inner linings are. Eggs from the super market (WF included) seem to just crumble in comparison. You've got to shop local suppliers to find things like this.
The unfortunate thing here is that it costs $8-9 a dozen for these eggs. It's worth it to me though.
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