Farmers Market

I keep meaning to talk about the farmers market and the pros and cons thereof. Locally there are several different farmers markets, one of which is right downtown one day during the week. There are many more throughout the city and suburbs.

The new one near the Guthrie is all organic, at least that's what I've been told. While I understand the benefits of organic food, it's quite expensive so most people probably pick and choose which things to go organic with. I remember reading about fruit and that if it's something you peel anyway, it probably doesn't matter if it's organic, but it you wash and eat, then it's better to have organic. So lettuce would be better as an option than bananas. I do sometimes buy organic bananas at the grocery store, when the regular ones are way too green for me.

The rest of the farmer's markets have things from various points of origin, ranging from a local farm or someone who trucks in foreign fruit and veg.

I'm more focused on money so not as concerned with organic or not. The produce I buy at the farmers market has been good; I made Garden Soup a few weeks ago. It's a vegetarian soup so green beans, waxed beans, carrots, peas, seasoned with salt or whatever you use to season vegetable soup; in addition to water, a roux made of vegetable oil and flour is added as a thickener. It's a wonderful summer soup.

I also bought tiny little beets. I love beets, which other people think is abnormal. It's so easy to cook them though; boil, peel, slice, serve with onions, oil and vinegar. Yum!