Farmers’ Markets: for the Love of Food

October 15, 2011 is Blog Action Day, and the topic is food. At EuropeUpClose.com, many of our posts focus on food; we regularly talk about where to eat, what to eat and even how to eat when visiting European cities and towns. We also direct our readers to Europe’s fantastic Farmers’ Markets.

Some people travel simply to try different foods from across the world; and, that really isn’t a bad way to go. Eating the foods of a country, or a region puts you in touch with the culture of that region. You are what you eat, ya know. Although I travel for many different reasons, I have to agree that food is an integral part of the scheme.

I love to visit the farmers’ markets of Europe where you will find the freshest of produce sold to you by the people who grew the food with a personal commitment to provide quality foods. The cheeses are sold with pride by the cheese-maker; the sausages by the sausage-maker, and so on. This connection with the food seems to make for better food and healthier diets.

In the US, most people buy their food at chain supermarkets where the produce sold is shipped from throughout the world. The fruit is often picked while still unripe and is then gassed or treated to have it ripen as it arrives on the supermarket shelve. But now there is a real movement afoot to reintroduce farmers’ markets across the USA. In Portland, Oregon, where I live, we have several markets available to us; there is at least one open market just about every day of the week from spring to late fall. Here, we can buy local organic produce, mushrooms, cheese, meat, fish, and eggs all grown within 50 miles. We are fortunate to live in a farm-rich area.

As people learn more about the downside of mass food production, farmers markets will continue to grow. Here’s a link to the US Agricultural Marketing Association that lists farmers’ markets in the USA. Also, check-out the Local Harvest listing of farmers’ markets and family farms that sell Organic foods.

Written by Terri Fogarty and photos by Bill Fogarty for EuropeUpClose.com