What is a farmers market? These regional hubs connect farmers with consumers, and offer you multiple benefits, including delicious, freshly harvested, nutritious produce, and a closer link to your food system. Learn how to make the most of your local market with my top 5 produce picks.
There’s no doubt about it, a visit to your local farmers market is a great way to spend the morning. I know it’s my go-to in my hometown of Ojai every Sunday.
What is a farmers market?
They are public, regional, recurring hubs that connect farmers to the community by selling locally produced foods directly to consumers. Not only is your neighborhood market one of the best places you can turn to for the freshest produce this summer, it’s also the perfect place to meet your local farmers and sample some of the season’s most mouth-watering plant foods. You can get to know which foods are in season, enjoy freshly harvested, nutritious, delicious foods, and try unusual biodiverse plant foods you might not have ever tasted before—purple Brussels sprouts, shishito peppers, radish watermelons, lemon cucumbers anyone? You can also support your local food system and community, as well as reduce your environmental footprint as food doesn’t have to travel so far to get to your plate.
Ready to plunge into your farmers market? It’s easy! I love to search for a farmers market near me at the National Farmers Market Directory, where you’ll find a list of ones in various locations around the country.
Check out some of the country’s finest, including the Union Square farmers market, Nashville farmers market, Santa Monica farmers market, Boulder farmers market, Des Moines farmers market, Dallas farmers market, Los Angeles farmers market, and Ithaca farmers market.
Here are my Top 5 Produce Picks from the Farmers Market. Try to make the most of your choices with some of my favorite recipe suggestions, too.
Top 5 Produce Picks
1. Strawberries
There’s something irresistible about strawberries. Heart-shaped, jewel-like and packed with some serious plant-powered nutritional punch, it’s no wonder strawberries are one of America’s favorite fruits. One cup provides 100 percent of your daily dose of vitamin C and boasts high levels of potassium, folate, and fiber. Additionally, this seasonal selection is well documented in its ability to reduce inflammation and oxidation in the body. Add strawberries to your salads, cereals, and smoothies for added nutritional benefits and flavor. Better yet, enjoy this seasonal favorite on its own! Check out my favorite ways to use strawberries here.
Try some of my favorite strawberry recipes here:
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Strawberry Aguas Frescas
Strawberry Coconut Almond Coffee Cake
2. Peaches
Whether grilled on the barbeque, sliced into cereals, topped on yogurt, or layered in cobbler, aren’t peaches just so…peachy? And if you’ve never eaten a fresh peach picked ripe from the tree, you don’t know what you’re missing. Store bought peaches often pale in comparison to farm-fresh varieties. This fuzzy-skinned, round, yellowish-orange fruit seems to personify summer with its sweet and refreshing flavor. Considered to be a stone fruit alongside cherries, plums, and apricots, peaches are slim on calories, yet packed with some serious nutritional punch. One large peach has only 68 calories, yet provides 10 percent of your daily needs of dietary fiber, 19 percent of the powerful antioxidant vitamin C, 11 percent of vitamin A, and 10 percent of potassium.
Try some of my favorite peach recipes here:
Peach of a Zucchini Carrot Smoothie
Rustic White Peach Pecan Tart
3. Carrots
Although it seems like Bugs Bunny was really onto something, a carrot is so much more than rabbit food. One medium carrot packs in two grams of fiber and your entire day’s worth of vitamin A – all for only 31 calories! This sweet-tasting, crunchy root vegetable is typically orange but comes in white, yellow, and purple shades, as well. Heirloom varieties may not be available in your local supermarket, so turn to your farmers market for the unbeatable fresh flavor of heirloom carrots, in a variety of colors, textures and tastes. Serve carrots raw as an appetizer with hummus or avocado dip, or enjoy chopped or shredded into salads and slaws. Cooked carrots are equally delicious in soups and stews. Check out my favorite ways to use carrots here.
Try some of my favorite carrot recipes here:
Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Carrot Spice Cupcakes
Zucchini Carrot Spice Muffins
4. Leafy Greens
Whether its dandelion greens, mustard greens, or tender lettuce leaves, the freshest most flavorful varieties of these plant powerhouses often come from the farmers market. You’ll find all sorts of unusual greens, which are remarkably tender and fresh because they were picked mere hours ago. My farmers market even tosses flower petals into their field lettuce mix – and for the same price as a bag of lettuce at the supermarket! Many health professionals believe that leafy green vegetables deserve a special focus in the produce world for the volume of nutrients tucked into their low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, low-glycemic index package. Perhaps that’s why they recommend incorporating at least three cups cooked (or six cups raw) in your diet every week! Find out more about the benefits of leafy greens here.
Try some of my favorite leafy green recipes here:
Tofu Kale Power Bowl with Tahini Dressing
Swiss Chard Orange Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette
Quinoa Kale Risotto with Pistachios
5. Tomatoes
Nothing beats fresh summer tomatoes, plucked straight from the garden. Sweet and juicy, heirloom varieties offer so much flavor and color, too! Tomatoes are particularly an important vegetable to enjoy during summertime; their important antioxidant lycopene – the plant compound that gives tomatoes their rich red hue – has been linked to protection of the skin from UV damage in several studies.
Try some of my favorite tomato recipes here:
Tomato Cucumber Basil Salad
Purple Basil Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
8-Minute Zucchini Tomato Basil Sandwich
