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Ask Darya: What should I do if I don’t have a local farmers market?
by Darya Rose | Dec 18, 2015
Hi guys,
Today we have another episode of Ask Darya, where Stacey from Denver asks:
“I love your idea of shopping at farmers markets whenever possible, but I’m located in Denver, where farmers markets tend to run from June/July through October-ish. What would you suggest as an alternative during the rest of the year? Should I order produce from a CSA and have it shipped to me? Should I find a farm that does pasture-raised poultry/meats and order through them?”
It’s a good question, and I offer a slight reframe on the value of farmers markets and share some of the solutions I’ve been using since moving to NYC from California.
Want me to answer your question? Submit it on the Ask Darya page.
Cheers,
Darya
What’s a CSA?
Somebody didn’t watch the video before commenting.
A very common sense answer, Darya. Thanks.
I also live in Colorado (about seven hours away from Denver in a sparsely populated area of the state in the mountains), so can understand the difficulties Stacey might have finding local products year-round. One place she might check is local greenhouses or nurseries. There is one near me that holds a farmers market even through the winter months. They not only sell produce and herbs that they grow in their greenhouses, but invite other farmers and artisans to display their wares as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the Denver area holds a similar weekly event.
If anyone has the opportunity to join a CSA, I would strongly recommend taking advantage of it. I have joined three different CSAs over the years in Colorado, and while none were perfect, I am glad I joined each one. Not only do you get the “fruit” of their very real labor in the form of fresh foods (and sometimes other products), but you may also gain a tremendous sense of satisfaction from helping an independent farmer. I only stopped when I moved somewhere where I was able to have my own garden … which gives me even more respect for those CSA farmers!
All that being said, Darya’s advice seems spot on. Do your best to find the best, but don’t let it throw you into a spiral if you can’t. Be healthy AND happy.
Surprised you didn’t mention Thrive Market here. I’ve heard it mentioned by a few other bloggers, haven’t tried it myself. Do you have any experiences with it?
My first time hearing about it, thanks.
I have been a member of Thrive for about a year and I love it. However, they don’t have any fresh or frozen items, so it is not an alternative to a farmer’s market. It’s great for any pantry type items – beans, grains, canned goods, cooking oils, condiments, chocolate, tea and coffee, cookies/crackers, etc. They have top quality choices (organic, simple ingredients, special diets) and pretty much everything is at the best price you can find anywhere online. They also have a great selection of all natural body care, pet products and household cleaning products. It’s $60 a year and for every paying member they donate a membership to a needy family, teacher or veteran. I have absolutely gotten my $60 value in savings many times over, but it depends how much you buy and how much you plan ahead (orders usually take a week to get to me). Oh and they almost always have some sort of free gift or discount promotion going on. Every order over $49 ships free so I usually stock up on things and place an order about once a month.
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Thank’s
Hi Darya,
Thanks for addressing this issue. It’s something I’ve wondered about. Do you have any recommendations for people finding out what is near you? Is there a good website to find local farms across America?
Yep, localharvest.org
Oh, you are so cute :)) I live right across NYC where you moved to recently. Like 15 minutes away. What is that market you mentioned, I believe you mentioned Batali?
I too depend on my farmer’s markets here.But we do have a gem, we have this awesome place in Jersey called Depiero’s Farm. They have their own real baby carrots, and beets and chives that do not go bad. I got ramps from them this past spring, omg! Now I know what the chefs are all taking about. They may be going out of business which is so sad. I can get real local strawberries from them a bit after strawberry season, which makes me oh so very happy.
Eataly. It’s not cheap, but it’s amazing.