Hello beautiful people! I hope that you are doing well! I am enjoying the sunshine and warmer temps we have been having in central Missouri. They have me ready to hit my local farmer’s market and find ALL the fresh goods!
So this excitement of mine got me thinking that now would be a great time to share with you a few tips on how to find your local farmer or farmer’s market. Shopping at the market or purchasing directly from the farmer will not only save you money on your grocery bill, it will also provide you with fresher food that is packed full of vitamins and minerals.
Since I have recently moved to a new area, I will get to explore new farmer’s markets this year! There are two in my area that I am aware of. I am looking forward to seeing what all is available and meeting new people when they open next weekend. We are basically out of grass-fed beef in the freezer and finding a new source that we can purchase at least a half of cow from is top priority. I will also be looking for pastured chickens and pork, we tend to just buy these as we need or want them when we have beef in the freezer. And of course, I will be on the hunt for well grown veggies. Oh, and raw milk products! I am a sucker for a quality cheese!
Not sure if you have a local market in your town or a local farmer selling produce or meat directly, no worries! There are plenty of places to check.
One great place to check is www.localharvest.org. On this site you can streamline your search to look to markets, farmers, co-ops and more.
Another site I like is www.eatwild.com. I actually use this site years ago when I first started looking for a farmer raising grass-fed beef. I was able to find a nice farm not too far from where I was living at the time. This site also offers a fair amount of education. The lady behind the site, Jo Robinson, has a fantastic book on choosing foods, I highly recommend it. It’s called Eating on the Wild Side. I refer to it often!
If you are in Missouri you can also go to https://missourigrownusa.com/ and search for the item you wish to purchase. But keep a keen eye to make sure the farmer or company is producing item in the manner you wish.
Don’t forget to watch the events section in your local paper for dates and times of the farmer’s market.
My last tip is to go into your local health food store. They will typically have some local produce and meat on hand. And they are normally a wealth of information and may know just the farmer to connect you with!
Well raised and grown local food is easy to find, you just might have to do a little detective work to find it! But it will be worth it, I promise!
If you are local to me and would like a few recommendations, just leave a comment below and I will be more then happy to what I know with you.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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