What is it about the farmer’s market that draws in such a crowd? The smell of multiple food stalls tickling your nose? The sound of local artists’ music drifting through the crowd? Or is it the wide array of locally grown produce that beats the heck out of grocery store produce? It’s probably the produce. Here are four things you should skip at the grocery store and instead pick up from the downtown farmer’s market.
Avocados
A perfect avocado is one that’s creamy, delicious and melts in your mouth. A prime example is a farmer’s market avocado. Grocery store avocados are usually picked before they ripen and as a result are hard, watery and spoil before they are soft enough to eat.
Tomatoes
Have you ever compared a fresh farmer’s market tomato to one you’d find in a grocery store? It’s bright red, juicy and very sweet while one that you’d find at the grocery store might lack color, flavor and texture. Like avocados, tomatoes are harvested and shipped to grocery stores before they ripen. Because they don’t mature on the vine, they don’t receive the nutrients needed to ripen properly which results in a lack of color and taste.
Carrots
Chances are your grocery store only carries orange carrots. Yes, there are carrots other than orange ones! Purple carrots and carrots of other colors contain higher amounts of vitamins and nutrition, and they’re much more fun to eat.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens at the grocery store are nice and basic, but the ones you find at the farmer’s market are fresher and crispier. Which would you prefer?
So go, friend! And put some of that deliciousness in your body.