Find Your Farmers' Market
After reading about the practices of environmentally-uncaring industrial farms, you may be hungry for an alternative source of agriculture. Look no further than your local farmers' market, where local farmers gather to sell fresh produce at reasonable prices directly to members of the community. Farmers' markets have exploded in popularity recently, and the number of farmers' markets in the US has nearly doubled in the last five years. Luckily, the USDA has compiled a map of farmers' markets across all 50 states (and a few colonies) based on the Google Map platform to keep track of them all. Be amazed as your city becomes pocked with farmers' markets you had no idea existed!
One of the greatest aspects of shopping locally at a farmers' market is knowing that you are making a difference in your community. Small family farms rely on the support of local farmers' markets to get their goods out to the public because they don't have access to the shipping and packing web that industrial farmers employ. Because the food travels relatively much shorter distances than supermarket produce, farmers' market foods are usually the freshest you can get-- and often at the cheapest price!
Once you've found your farm online, go there in person and get to know the people behind the produce. Find out what local farmers in your area are doing to manage their ecological impact, or what legislation they are interested in. Farmers and the food that they produce are important members of any community, and making sure that their independent farms have a fair shot in a food-world dominated by industrial farms is a worthwhile gesture for any environmentally-conscientious eater. And the more people who switch to fresh local food, the weaker the hold of industrial food has over our plates and stomachs.
Interactive Map (takes a while to load): http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/googleMapFull.aspx
Other sources:
http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/#
http://www.psmag.com/culture/good-intentions-always-in-season-at-farmers-markets-11036/
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateS&navID=WholesaleandFarmersMarkets&leftNav=WholesaleandFarmersMarkets&page=WFMFarmersMarketGrowth&description=Farmers%20Market%20Growth&acct=frmrdirmkt
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| http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/googleMapFull.aspx (takes a while to load) |
One of the greatest aspects of shopping locally at a farmers' market is knowing that you are making a difference in your community. Small family farms rely on the support of local farmers' markets to get their goods out to the public because they don't have access to the shipping and packing web that industrial farmers employ. Because the food travels relatively much shorter distances than supermarket produce, farmers' market foods are usually the freshest you can get-- and often at the cheapest price!
Once you've found your farm online, go there in person and get to know the people behind the produce. Find out what local farmers in your area are doing to manage their ecological impact, or what legislation they are interested in. Farmers and the food that they produce are important members of any community, and making sure that their independent farms have a fair shot in a food-world dominated by industrial farms is a worthwhile gesture for any environmentally-conscientious eater. And the more people who switch to fresh local food, the weaker the hold of industrial food has over our plates and stomachs.
Interactive Map (takes a while to load): http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/googleMapFull.aspx
Other sources:
http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/#
http://www.psmag.com/culture/good-intentions-always-in-season-at-farmers-markets-11036/
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateS&navID=WholesaleandFarmersMarkets&leftNav=WholesaleandFarmersMarkets&page=WFMFarmersMarketGrowth&description=Farmers%20Market%20Growth&acct=frmrdirmkt
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