"...without good farming there can be no good food; and without good food there can be no good life."  -Alice Waters

"If you eat, soil is your business... The traditional bottom line does not assign a value to soil fertility or the long term sustainability of land and community.  I believe it should."  -On Good Land, The Autobiography of an Urban Farm, by Michael Ableman

A few more reasons to shop at a farmers market, and a few links to help you learn more:

1. Freshness, flavor and nutrition

All the fruits and vegetables at the markets are from local farms, grown in-season, in healthy soil, and picked ripe  - giving us the best possible nutritional content, not to mention the best flavor.  Meats, poultry and dairy are local, sustainably raised, pasture-finished and excellent quality.

Slow Food Seattle,  Raw Network of Washington,  Chefs Collaborative,  Cullinate, Nina Planck, Helladelicious, Eat Well Guide, Devouring sEATtle, West Coast Cooking, Eat Wild, Chefs A' Field, Dr Maring's Farmers Market Recipes, MixedGreensBlog, Cynthia Nims, Jamie Oliver Food Revolution-Seattle

2. Amazing variety

As a group, small family farms grow an incredibly varied mix of fruits and vegetables, contributing to an important and healthy genetic diversity in our food supply.  And this means more choices for those of us who like to eat! At the markets you'll find dozens of different types of lettuces, braising greens, berries, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, tree fruits, melons, squashes and more.  Many of these delicious varieties are simply not available in regular grocery stores.

You can check out what's on the market tables this week at the "Ripe and Ready" page.

3. Food security and support of our local economy

Supporting local businesses helps keep our local economy strong.  Preserving local farmland is also essential to regional food safety and well as food quality.  (Farmland is being lost at an alarming rate all over the U.S. - supporting local farms is one way to slow down this dangerous trend.) 

Washington Young Farmers Coalition, Food Routes, Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network, Cascade Harvest Coalition, Cornucopia, Local Harvest, Puget Sound Fresh, Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, WSU's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State Dept. of Agriculture, American Farmland Trust, Washington State Farmers Market Association, Northwest Agriculture Business Center, Michael Pollan writes on Bioneers.org, Puget Sound Food Network, Food Hub, Know Your Farmer Know Your Food, GrowFood.org; nwfoodfight.org; PCC Farmland Trust; foodandwaterwatch.org; foodmatters.tv

4. Care of the environment

Well-managed farms provide important green spaces, water drainage, and habitat or buffers for wildlife in our state.  When farms are paved over by developement, our environment deteriorates.  Buying from local farms means less resources are wasted in getting food from farm to table.

Farming and the Environment, Pure Salmon Campaign, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Campaign, Sustainable Table, Online Environmental Community, Seattle Tilth, Organic Consumers Association, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Mangrove Action Project, Heart of Washington, Northwest Environmental Education Council, Institute for Washington's Future, Stewardship Partners, Building Farmers in the West

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5. Community and Connections

The markets are safe, family-friendly gathering places where city residents meet friends and neighbors - and get to know the folks who grow our food.  Farmers and urban shoppers learn from each other.  Farmers markets also foster increased public participation in neighborhoods, and bring more shoppers to nearby businesses.

The Interra Project, Seattle Community Network, Cascade Foothills Farmland Association, Earth Ministry, Master Gardeners, The Edible Schoolyard, City of Seattle Dept of Neighborhoods, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Farmers Market Coalition, Community Alliance for Global Justice

Some reading ideas:

Fields That Dream by Jenny Kurzweil (history of Seattle farmers markets and market farmers' personal stories)

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck

Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It by Michael Ableman

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food by Ben Hewitt

Some documentaries to check out: Food, Inc., Broken Limbs, Good Food, Botany of Desire, FRESH the Movie, The Garden, Peaceable Kingdom, Our Daily Bread (Unser taglich Brot), The Global Banquet: The Politics of Food

Some good cookbooks:

Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers Markets by Deborah Madison

The Farm to Table Cookbook by Ivy Manning

The Farmers Market Cookbook by Nina Planck

Fresh from the Garden Cookbook by Ann Lovejoy

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider

Washington Farmers' Markets Cookbook by Kris Wetherbee

Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice published by the Community Alliance for Global Justice (purchase through seattleglobaljustice.org)

TENDER: Farmers, Cooks, Eaters by Tamara Murphy