EATING WELL—AND THAT WE ARE!
It’s August, and all our wonderful Northwest Ohio fruits and vegetables are in season and ripe for the picking!
If you grow your own garden, harvesting those delectable, nutritious fruits and veggies is simple and convenient (and you’ve probably already picked more zucchini than your family, friends, and coworkers could possibly consume in a lifetime). But even if you aren’t into home gardening, you still have easy access to locally grown, in-season produce at your local farmers market. In fact, almost every day of the week you can attend a farmers market in or around Toledo.
Farmers markets play a vital role in our nation’s food system, and to celebrate and highlight the value these markets bring to their communities, National Farmers Market Week (NFMW) was established. To be held this year from August 3-9—and now in its 26th year—NFMW is observed in over 20 states at the state and local level. We also celebrate a Farmers Market Day in all the Toledo suburbs and up over the state line.
Why join in the NFMW celebration? Because farmers markets enrich communities— including our own—in so many ways! To list just some examples: 1. Farmers markets help preserve farmland and rural livelihoods by offering greater opportunity for business and marketing. They also help small farmers by providing an entry point to gain real time feedback on their crops and varieties.
2. They stimulate local economies by providing shoppers food that is unrivaled in taste and freshness, and they give the farmers opportunity to grow their business, gain experience, and in turn support the local economy by putting their money back into supplies, equipment, etc. from local businesses.
3. They increase access to nutritious food by offering affordable, competitively priced produce and special programs for low-income families; putting fruits and vegetables front and center to create a healthy shopping environment; and welcoming SNAP and WIC participants, making it a win-win for the farmers and low-income communities.
4. They support healthy communities by increasing connections within the community. Studies show that people go to farmers markets to do more than shop. They also interact socially with the farmers, neighbors, and their community. Studies also show that shoppers increase their intake of fruits and vegetables by 1.6 servings a day when bought from a farmers market. (Remember the 5 A Day campaign—5 cups of fruits/vegetables per day. Having fresh fruits and vegetables on hand makes this an easy and achievable goal.)
5. They promote sustainability by ensuring farmers have an outlet where communities can find and purchase their products. Farmers markets offer small and mid-size farmers a low-barrier entry point to develop a thriving business.
So, why not savor summer’s bounty while you support local farmers and food makers? At your local farmers market, you’ll discover the true spice of life—variety. You’ll find an array of produce that you may not normally consume or even see at your local supermarket, including things like purple cauliflower, heirloom tomatoes, quail eggs, and maitake mushrooms. It’s a great opportunity to try something new and different.
Join the celebration in your local neighborhood or visit a surrounding-area market. Whether you are in Toledo, Maumee, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Temperance, Oregon, or Swanton, you can show local farmers you love them by purchasing fresh, healthy produce and products. From fields to farmers to us, they strengthen our communities by growing healthier and more sustainable crops. Besides, what better way to “Enjoy the taste of eating right”?
Laurie Syring, RDN/LD, is Clinical Nutrition Manager at ProMedica Flower Hospital. ✲
