NORTHWEST OHIO–FRUITS AND VEGETABLES are in season and ripe for picking.
Toledo, Maumee, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Oregon, Swanton and Temperance, Michigan, offer farmers markets and food stands on certain days of the week. Check your community calendar for days and times of availability.
National Farmers Market Week, August 3 through 8, is happening in Toledo and the surrounding area. Farmers Market Week is celebrated in more than 20 states at both the local and state levels. These markets play a vital role in our nation’s food system by providing sustainable food and supporting local farms. National Farmers Market Week celebrates and highlights the value that markets bring to their communities.
Here are five ways farmers markets benefit: 1. Preserve farmland and rural livelihoods by offering greater opportunities for business and marketing.
This helps small farmers by providing an entry point to gain realtime feedback on their crops and varieties.
2. Stimulate local economies by providing shoppers with food that is unrivaled in taste and freshness.
This allows local farmers to grow their business, gain more experience and receive direct feedback. In turn, they support the local economy by putting their money back into supplies, equipment, etc., from other businesses.
3. Increase access to nutritious food by offering affordable, competitively priced and special programs for low-income families.
Putting fruits and vegetables out creates a healthy shopping environment for families to purchase healthy and affordable foods.
Farmers markets welcome SNAP and WIC participants, making it a win-win for the farmers and for low-income communities.
4. Support healthy communities by increasing connections to the community.
Studies show that people go to farmers markets to do more than shop; they interact socially with the farmers, neighbors, and their community.
Studies also show that shoppers increase their fruit and vegetable intake by 1.6 servings per day when buying at a farmers market.
5. Promote sustainability by ensuring farmers have an outlet where communities can find and purchase their products.
Farmers markets offer small and mid-size farmers low-barrier access to develop their business.
Remember the Five-A-Day campaign– at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Having fresh fruits and vegetables on hand makes this an easy and achievable goal. The authors of a study published in Circulation concluded, “Their findings support dietary recommendations to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, which align with “Five-A-Day” and “Fruits and Veggies–More Matters” campaigns to encourage consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables.
They say that variety is the spice of life. Going to a farmers market can be a way to savor summer's bounty, support local farmers and food producers in the local economy. At a farmers market, you will find an array of produce–purple cauliflower, heirloom tomatoes, quail eggs and maitake mushrooms.
Join the celebration in your neighborhood or visit a surrounding area market to try something new or different and to support local business.
From fields to farmers to usstrengthening our community by growing healthier and more sustainable crops. And as always, enjoy the taste of eating right.
SIDE NOTE:
Cyclosporiasis Outbreak
Currently, health officials are unsure from where the Cyclosporiasis outbreak originated.
They suspect fresh fruits and/or vegetables have been contaminated by unclean water. They are looking at berries, lettuce, fresh herbs, green onions and snow peas.
They recommend washing all fruits and vegetables before eating by using a small, clean scrub brush. It is not recommended to use soap or bleach. To prepare fruits and vegetables properly, wash and thoroughly rinse, trim root ends, cut, or peel produce and then refrigerate as soon as possible.
An alternative to wash produce is to use Fit Organic Fruit and Vegetable wash. Perhaps consider alternatives such as frozen fruit and vegetables if you are in a high-risk population.
Laurie Syring, RDN/LD, is Clinical Nutrition Manager at ProMedica Flower Hospital. ✲
