The Downtown Farmer's Market

First, I read The Omnivore's Dilemma, then Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The latter is written by a best-selling author with an academic background in biology, with sidebars by her husband, a biologist and professor of environmental studies. Their experience spending a year eating only foods they grew or raised themselves, or locally grown, opened my eyes to the importance of eating locally grown foods and supporting sustainable agriculture. The huge agricultural companies sure aren't going to tell us how much petroleum products are used in the petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides used in conventional farming, or how much gas and diesel/jet fuels are burnt hauling this stuff all over the country and world. The carbon footprint for a bag of organic salad is huge. And they're certainly not advertising the loss of flavor in the varieties developed for mass production. That's before we start to discuss what's happened with the nutrition and husbandry of livestock. There's much more to learn as well - and some good eating to be done. But for now, I decided to venture out beyond Whole Foods (which does a good job of selling locally grown produce) to find some smaller farmers.

So mother and I made a trip to the downtown Farmer's Market this morning. It's a branch of the big Farmer's Market on the other side of town, held on Saturdays on Main Street from May to October each year. Tents with vendors line the sides of Main Street for a couple of blocks, as you can see from the picture. What fun! You can meet the farmer, and discuss growing methods, varieties, and so forth. The farmer is very happy to tell you about his work and products, and you learn a lot and buy some undeniably healthy food. I paid less than grocery store prices for everything I bought this morning.

Mother bought peaches (and learned that only the early crop was devastated by this year's late freeze), strawberries and tomatoes - all locally grown in upstate SC. I bought South Carolina-grown beets, pattypan squash, and some heirloom radishes - look for a picture later in the week! I also bought honey from an apiary in Campobello, and the bee keeper makes lip balm, soaps, lotions and other items. I've trying out the lip balm - spearmint flavored. And it's really exciting to find the local organic food co-op of farmers was there - including a poultry farmer just outside of Honea Path (close to Mike's commuting route through the countryside.) They retired from Titusville, FL and set up their little farm. Their hens free-range over an actual pasture and through woods - about an acre is fenced for them. Their diet is supplemented with grain. They have Rhode Island Reds, Arucanas (spelling?), and another variety I did not recognize.....some kind of Black. They select their varieties for tameness and treat them as pets. Their eggs - antibiotic-free, hormone-free and truly free-ranged - come in a variety of colors from the blue Arucanas to brown and tan. I bought a dozen for less than the technically "free-range" eggs without drugs that are driven up from Florida at the store. Now if I can just find someone nearby who raises chickens like this, and sells the meat....

How amazing! Who knew so many small farmers are producing such wonderful foods so close to our home? We know about an award-winning goat farm and boutique cheese maker out in Anderson; today we met more small farmers.

We also ran into some friends - Robert and his wife Katherine, who was one of my sponsors for membership in the Greenville Kennel Club. They raise Rhodesian Ridgebacks and compete with their 7 dogs in agility, obedience, Rally and the breed ring. They had two Ridgebacks with them this morning. We had a fun time visiting and catching up. We've had classes together off and on for a long time, but not currently. We had a good time catching up with each other.

A local artisan bread company was there, as was a local restaurant selling shrimp and grits and baked goods. A coffee vendor was there, too, of course. And a dog bakery - Rowdy and Tillie rated the product Excellent. I'm trying to feed us more fresh produce, and now that it's home....well, I wish I'd bought a little more. Next weekend, we plan a trip to the big Farmer's Market, so stay tuned.