10 Tips to Shop Smart at Farmers Markets...

Farmers market season is fast approaching, and that’s good news for produce lovers as well as the environment. Since locally grown produce does not have to travel as far as the typical grocery store radish or raspberry, it’s usually fresher, picked at the peak of flavor, still rich in vitamins and minerals, and ‘greener’ in the sense that it reaches your table without guzzling mega-gallons of gas.

For these reasons as well as the pure pleasure of walking from stall to stall on a beautiful day, farmers markets have been booming since the mid-1990s. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of neighborhood markets surged from 1,755 to 4,385 between 1994 and 2006, with nearly 20% growth between 2004 and 2006 alone.

Still, farmers market shopping is a bit of an art. FruitandVeggieGuru.com, a website dedicated to the world of produce, recommends a few simple steps for the perfect outing.

1. Find out if all vendors are grower/producers. Some markets have stalls with overstock, distressed or supermarket-rejected produce purchased from local wholesalers who unload it cheaply to sellers for fruit and vegetable stands. While you can get good deals from these sellers, they are not a source for fresh local produce. If that’s what you’re looking for, call the market coordinator to determine if that’s what you’re getting.

2. Shop early in the day for selection. When the first-of-season blueberries or peaches or honeycrisp apples arrive, they often disappear from market tables faster than you can say “I’ve been waiting a year!” Even less time-sensitive foods like pickling cucumbers might be gone if you wait until late in the day. The early shopper gets the best choice.

3. Let the produce du jour guide your meal planning. Since farmers market selections come from just 100 or 200 miles away, the local climate dictates what you’ll find on any given day. That means you’ll get leafy greens, herbs and sprouts early in the season, and you’ll have to wait for items like corn, berries and tomatoes. Build your menus around produce availability to take full advantage of the season’s bounty.

4. Buy for value, but don’t balk at prices. Foods like corn, green beans, herbs, squashes, cucumbers and fresh peas may be less expensive than storebought. Tomatoes are also a good value, especially compared to homegrown given that a $2 plant that may yield only six or seven fruits for the season. Many other items may be pricier than your neighborhood grocer because small farmers lack economies of scale, use more expensive heirloom seeds, and care for their crops by hand rather than machine. The reward: you’ll get peak-of-season taste that is hard to find at your neighborhood grocer.

5. Understand the difference between heirloom and mass-produced varieties. Local farmers typically use heirloom seed stock passed down through generations without human engineering. Often, fruits and vegetables grown from these seed varieties have more flavor than grocery store produce bred from seeds developed for their high yield, ability to withstand long-distance travel, and/or tolerance to drought and frost.

6. Go for the items you can’t get in the store. When they’re available, grab regional varieties like an Arkansas Black or Harrelson apple or those sweet, juicy strawberries your grandmother remembers from her childhood. In many cases, you’re not going to find them outside farmers markets unless you know the farmer. This applies to ripe peaches as well. Peaches that are picked hard, like those you get in the grocery store, get softer but not sweeter as they ripen. Farmers market peaches are typically picked ripe and therefore sweeter than any alternative source.

7. Look for organic growers. You’ll usually find a few, offering foods that are grown and processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, germ-killing irradiation, and most pesticides and fertilizers. But don’t expect to find “certified organic” goods. Many smaller producers are not big enough to justify the expense of getting inspected and certified under the National Organic Program.

8. Ask when it was picked. The sugars in foods like peas and corn turn to starch quickly after picking, so be sure you know when they came out of the fields. Some vendors pick fresh in the morning, while others pick the night before because they have to drive two or three hours to set up for a 7 or 8 am market. Beware of anything older.

9.Take cash and a reusable shopping bag or shopping cart. Some larger farmers markets accept debit or credit cards or even WIC vouchers, but most neighborhood markets are cash-only affairs. A shopping bag or cart gives you a place to stow your purchases so that you’re not juggling multiple plastic bags, and in some cases eliminates the need for extra bags altogether for a more eco-friendly experience.

10. Befriend the farmers. Remember, the people you’re buying from are most likely the people who grow the food. They can steer you to the best buys of the day, teach you about foods you might not be familiar with (how often do you buy fennel or celeriac?), and perhaps reserve something special for you the following week. Besides, part of the enjoyment of farmers market shopping is that it’s personal. Take advantage of it.