Photo Courtesy: Arizona Community Farmers Market
This week, in GPE I with Dr. Saleh, we studied the film Food Inc., a documentary about the industrialization of our food. Equally enlightening and disturbing, I immediately became more concerned about where my food came from. So when I happened upon a Farmers Market yesterday, I bought more than usual.
The idea of buying locally raised meat and in season produce is something we tend to de-prioritize as we power through our day. It’s difficult to find and inconvenient to buy–very few fast food restaurants offer local or seasonal fare. Real food is expensive and manufactured food (largely containing GMOs) is not. It’s a global paradox and on an individual level tough to know the difference and the truth about the food we’re putting in our bodies.
Farmers Markets are few and far between here in the West Valley of Arizona. There are only a handful throughout the week, open for a few hours a day, making it difficult for people to conveniently buy local and organic food. Many people plan and elect to anchor their shopping days around farmers markets held on Wednesday nights (59th and Utopia) and Saturday Mornings (in Goodyear and Scottsdale). It’s worth the effort to buy real food and other organic or local products at farmers markets. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to understand the community and some of the key players in the local economy. Farmers markets vary in scale, the market in San Francisco at the Ferry Building is massive and others, such as the market in Portland, Oregon are more intimate but have music and entertainment to draw in families. Either way, whatever gets us there, we should all should spend more time considering the food we eat and how it will impact our health on a daily basis.
For a schedule of some of the farmers markets in the area, check out Arizona Community Farmers Markets.