Amherst, MA farmers market
This weekend my fiance and I went up to Amherst, MA for the weekend. It’s amazing traveling up to MA from NYC where everywhere you turn is cement buildings and pavement. Up there it’s all grass, trees and most importantly fresh air!
I think it’s so important to take a mini vacation from anywhere you are – just to get a change of pace and away from all the pollution.
While we were there we encountered lots of fresh, local produce and we were lucky enough to experience the local farmers market. What an experience the market was! I felt so inspired while walking past all the stands filled with fruit that was picked early that morning and all the other fresh goodies that these local vendors were selling. I was inspired to continue my streak of eating healthy and my eyes widened as I listened to how these farmers picked the fruit that was now sitting on the table right in front of my nose.
I got to thinking about the differences between local and organic produce. One would think that local produce would definitely be the first choice but here’s the debate – local doesn’t mean that they don’t use pesticides, it just means that the food didn’t travel thousands of miles to get to your supermarket or farmers market. Organic means that there was no pesticides used whatsoever but it may have traveled a very long way just to get to you.
My first choice is always organic – even though it’s better for the environment to eat local, I’m conscious about my body first and the environment second.
It’s a toss up for many people though and it may be worth going out to your local farmers market and asking them how the food is grown and the amount of pesticides that are being used.
In any case, everyone should get out to their local farmers market just to meet the farmers and experience what fresh food really looks like. It’s also known that food retains the most nutrients right at the time that it’s picked – so buying local means that the food will probably have more nutrients BUT it may contain pesticides. Clearly the best choice would be to buy local AND organic but it’s very hard to find that combination. Keep your eyes out though; you will come across it at some point soon I’m sure.
