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Of all the ways to go green, I'm the most excited about changing how we eat. I love cooking and baking, and have already been trying to make more meals from scratch to avoid preservatives and all those add-ins with names we can't pronounce. So I spend the whole week looking forward to my first farmer's market trip, envisioning piles of locally grown zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, fresh herbs, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries. I even collect recipes perfect for fresh summer produce, including one for a strawberry cream pie. I can't wait.
But when I get to the market on Saturday, it doesn't quite live up to my expectations. Only four farmers have set up stands—though there is one guy selling imported olive oil, but oil from Croatia does not exactly count as eating local. And while all the produce looks delicious, the selection isn't what I'd hoped: lots of lettuce (which we always forget to eat once we buy it), snap peas, and beets. I do grab a head of broccoli, and have my eye on four pints of strawberries until the woman in front of me buys them all. Lesson one: Get to the market as soon as it opens. Lesson two: Research what's in season; it's a little early for all that fruit I'd expected to see. Still, the organic goat cheese, bread, and carrot-raisin muffins are worth the trip—even if I do have to put the strawberry cream pie on hold until next time.
More about farmers' markets
Acquainting Yourself With Your Local Farmers
Celebs That Buy Local
Green Foods
Find Your Dinner at the Farmer's Market
Blythe Copeland is a freelancer writer living on Long Island. Read more about her foray into the green life in her Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living.
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