There are lots of benefits that come from eating fresh food that was grown locally, like the kinds you find at your farmers’ market.

• Your SNAP card makes it easy for you to buy fresh and local at your farmers’ market.
• Fresh is best! Fresh food just tastes better. The strawberries you get in December that were grown thousands of miles away just can’t compare to the ones that were just picked a day or so ago. Also, as food ages (like when it has to be shipped from another country) it loses nutrients. When you buy fresh and local, your food tastes best and is healthiest for you.
• You know those nasty outbreaks of sickness from contaminated food you see on the news every so often? There’s less chance of that when you buy local. Less travel for your food means less handling, which means more safety.
• Are you curious about what farmers use on their crops to keep bugs away and help the plants grow? Just ask them!
• Buying local is good for the environment, which is good for you and your loved ones. The shorter the distance your food has to travel, the less pollution from airplanes, ships, trains, and trucks goes into the air and water.
• Often, farmers grow produce that grocery stores don’t carry because they wouldn’t sell enough, so you get to find new foods at the farmers’ market. Just because you haven’t seen that funny-looking tomato at the store doesn’t mean that it’s not delicious!
• What’s missing from all of the fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ market?
  • Mountains of salt, that causes high blood pressure (or makes it worse).
  • Added fat, and we all know what too much of that does. We need fat to live, but we should get it from lean meat, eggs, avocadoes, healthy oils like olive oil or canola oil, and nuts. Try having a few of your favorite nuts with your favorite fruit, or having an egg on top of some sautéed spinach or a half of a baked potato. It’s not the same as potato chips, but it’s way better for you, and you might just find your new favorite snack!
  • Table sugar – like the kind we put in coffee and bake with – sneaks into lots of foods, but you get a different sugar when you eat fruit. Sugar from fruit goes into your bloodstream more slowly, so you don’t get a sugar rush and then crash. Sugar from fruit is much better for people with diabetes than table sugar is.
  • Food coloring. Does it hurt? Some say that it does, some say that it doesn’t. Does it help? Nope. Definitely not, so why pay for it?
  • Have you every gotten a headache after eating Chinese takeout, fast food, or packaged food? That could be from MSG (monosodium glutamate). Some people are really sensitive to this, and fresh produce from the market has zero MSG, so you could literally be saving yourself a headache.
• Want to learn more about how one family ate only local food for a year? Grab your library card and check out Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver.

Here’s what’s being picked this week*:
Cantaloupes
Peaches
Hot Peppers
Swiss Chard

*Availability will vary by market due to differences in growing zones.