Local farmers markets with not so local produce

For the past 5 years I have been going to the farmers markets to buy my produce and other homemade goodies. I used too get eggs and meat there as well, until I found Josh and Anya and their pastured chickens, lambs, cow and eggs. Now I get all my eggs and meat through them. You can check out there website here and here as they are currently building a new website.

Back to produce though. Growing your own veggies or buying from a small farm is no new thing. But in the past few years it has been a growing trend, one that I am very happy to see and that admittedly I jumped on with gusto. However what I'm not so happy about is the trend I'm seeing now of farmers claiming to grow veggies locally but really getting them from wholesale shipped in from California. The whole point of buy local  and in season is to buy what is available right now grown in your own state.

I went to the market this morning as I usually do on Sundays and I found an abundance of eggplants, cucumbers, bell peppers and green beans. All things that should not be out until late May to early June. I know this because I am gardener and try my best to eat fresh veggies in season. Of course I have lots of summer produce that I prepped last summer and froze, dried or canned. The other thing I found outrageous was the table full of California strawberries.

I'm upset about two things here. One, is that market goers are expecting farmers to have all the stuff available in the grocery stores at any time of year. That's not the point of eating in season. This in turn makes the farmers buy produce from wholesale markets and sell it to you as if it were grown by them. That is the second thing that really upsets me. When I see mangos in the desert at a farmers market I have to wonder where they are coming from. One booth claimed to be from southern Arizona and that they are a small organic farm. But half the produce they were selling had organic stickers on them from California. When I see those stickers it makes me wonder what else on their table without a sticker is from California or even Mexico. I don't like feeling cheated or lied too.

I realize I've mentioned California like a million times already. I don't have problem with organic produce from California. I buy on occasion, produce in the store from California and Mexico. I try to avoid things from South America due to the air miles.

What I'd like you, my dear reader, to get from all this ranting is that "in season" and local means just that. If you live in a desert climate don't expect tropical fruit. If it's winter, don't expect summer produce like eggplants and bell peppers. Talk to the farmer, ask questions about how they run their farm and if they use organic practices. Don't just assume everything is from their cute little farm as it says on the sign. I feel that by talking to them and buying the veggies they have that are in season ( think lettuce and root veggies right now) that you can help them to return to a more righteous way of selling their wonderful produce.

Here are a few articles which talk about this topic in more depth.

here, here,

If only I lived in Southern Colorado and could buy all my produce from this little farm! By the way Farmama is one of my favorite blogs ever, check her out!