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A Taste of Summer Freshness is Just Around the Corner
If you’ve never experienced one of Michigan's farmers market, imagine a place where the smell of sweet corn consumes you and rows of vibrantly colored fresh tomatoes line the aisles. Markets are setting up camp in communities all over Michigan, bringing products fresh from the farm to your kitchen table.
In supporting your local farmers market, you are contributing to a venue that is unique to your town. These markets vary from one town the next, some a little funkier than others. The Eighth Street Farmers Market in Holland offers weekly kids activities with names like Super Science and Flubber and At the Market with Monet, as well as special events including the Salsa Showdown and The Carve III. Some are more traditional like the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, which features locally grown food, plants, handcrafts and prepared food items. These markets provide a sense of community where people of all ages can gather to stroll, sample and experience fresh, seasonal and locally produced foods.
In supporting your local farmers, you grow your community’s economy and help farms remain competitive in today’s agriculture economy. Farmers markets also give a forum for the Community Supported Agriculture movement, a way to keep local small farmers viable.
These markets provide an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. Purchasing food that comes directly from the farm down the road reduces the resources and energy it takes to ship food, thus reducing pollution, fossil fuel emissions and trash from packaging.
So give your farmers market a shot— taste seasonal, freshly picked food, lend a helping hand to local businesses and enjoy a one of a kind market to call your own. Chances are there’s a one right around the corner from you but if you aren’t sure where to find the nearest market click here to visit a site that maps all the markets in Michigan.
Here is a list compiled by the Detroit Free Press of farmers markets across southeast Michigan.
Enjoy Michigan’s freshest!
Above picture obtained from Flickr Creative Commons, EllieVanHoutte
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