Do you want to eat healthy, fresh, locally grown produce? If you said yes, you need to be shopping at your local Farmer’s Markets. Farmer’s markets are a great place to find food that is grown locally from farmer’s that live and grow their food surprisingly close to where you live.
With the abundance and the variety of produce available at Farmer’s markets you may find yourself overwhelmed with the selections. With these farmer’s market shopping tips you can navigate with joy and end up with the best kind of goodies!
Farmer’s Market Shopping Tips
Before heading out to the farmer’s market, a little bit of planning will go far!
Know What’s In Season
If you know what fruits and vegetables are in season, you’ll be more likely to know what to expect when you get to market. It’s a real bummer to head out to shop only to discover that the produce you expect to stock up on are nowhere to be found.
Meal Planning
We’ve talked and talked about the cost and time saving benefits of meal planning, but as it turns out, meal planning makes farmer’s market shopping even better too! If you know what you’re planning to prepare, you’ll know what to be on the lookout for.
Bring Cash (Small Bills)
Many vendors at farmers markets don’t accept cards, so cash is king. Additionally, unless you want to buy in bulk, it’s important to bring small bills. This is especially true if you are headed to the market in the morning before the vendors have built up cash reserves from purchases.
Bring Bags
Be sure and bring reusable shopping bags with you. You don’t want to strain the resources of small vendors and take their bags and besides, you’ll likely end up with more merchandise than you plan on, so you need a way to carry it.