Fresh Has a Whole New Meaning

I've become a believer in local farmer's markets. It only took one trip and I was convinced I would be adding a weekly visit to Main Street to my lifestyle. Ours is up and running from 8:30-12:30 every Wednesday and Saturday morning. I spoke with one of the farmers and she enlightened me to one of the greatest benefits, I think, of shopping locally.

A week before my first trip to the market, I went to the store with the best prices in the weekly ads and spent $80 on fresh produce, thinking I landed the jackpot. In four days, I repeat four days, most of what I purchased had gone rancid. I'd hardly had a chance to figure out what to do with all the squash, zucchini, artichokes, spinach and so much more before I had to toss it out. 

I was devastated. And broke. 

I rounded up all the change I had and headed down to the market after dropping my oldest off at school. I was at my first stand and the lady was so friendly I couldn't help but ask her all my questions. 

How long will your spinach and garlic chives last in the fridge?

Her answer? Two weeks. Maybe three. Two, maybe three weeks?? I was lucky to get my produce from the store to last a week.

How does it stay fresh so long?

She said her greens were cut the day before. And not to knock on the grocery store, because people gotta get their food, but after the produce is picked/cut, it then has to be packaged. And then it has to travel. By the time it gets to the commercial chain store, it's been several days. Add in rotation practices, and sometimes you have food that can barely be called "fresh" out on the floor. 

Curious, I went back to the store I spent that small fortune on and found that a lot of the stuff I bought came from Chile. South America. Not even our same continent! 

I'm guessing it came by boat. And then sat in the back of the store for another week until what was on the sales floor finally sold.

But these greens, cut the day before, were crisp and dark. And they were cheaper. Yay! The asparagus was $3 for a lb. Not necessarily cheaper. But definitely fresher. Free range chicken eggs were 2 dozen for $5. I haven't tried them yet. We are still using up the last purchase of a 5 dozen egg package from Alberston's. 

I don't know what the furthest distance is that farmers drive to get here to sell their goods, but I'm sure it's a heck of a lot closer than coming from South America! I have not been disappointed since I started shopping the local market. $20 a week seems to be enough to keep fresh produce in my meals. And to me, that's completely worth it.