Farmer's Market

I live in Seattle, so I visited the farmer’s market in U district yesterday. I’ve never been, so I didn’t know what to expect. Before I went, I looked up a recipe to make. I checked out epicurious.com and I decided to make a mango bread pudding listed right on the main page since I was in a dessert mood. When I got to the market, I thought that it was pretty much how I had pictured it to be, just more crowded than I expected. I started looking at the vendors and going in some tents to search the produce and comparing prices. I found some things to be less expensive compared to how much they’d cost at the grocery store, but I think that for the most part it was more expensive. Also, it was probably a mistake to have looked up a recipe beforehand because I did not find one thing that I needed (besides eggs which I already had at home). I ended up buying some produce as well as a cinnamon roll to go. Afterwards, I went to the Safeway across the street to buy the ingredients for my mango bread pudding.

Going to the farmer’s market was a learning experience and I definitely had a few realizations. First, I remember when we visited the archive building and read the old documents. While reading through menus and cookbooks I wondered why certain recipes were delegated to certain seasons… because recipes were made when ingredients were in season! I enjoy being able to go to the grocery store to buy produce that may not in season or locally grown. Sometimes I may be craving something and I don’t feel like waiting until summer to eat it. Secondly, I realized that I consider grocery shopping to be an autonomous matter. I like to be able to be able to easily navigate a store, find what I need, and checkout (preferably u-scan). I like to go shopping with as little assistance as possible. I noticed at the farmer’s market that this was impossible. I probably sound really antisocial right now but I usually go shopping early in the morning or later at night, soon after I have woken up or before I go to sleep, I usually just feel scrubby and not in a very social mood. The market was also pretty packed which made me feel a little claustrophobic. Something else that I realized is that not only does growing your own produce or hunting your own meat make you become more connected to it, but shopping at places like the farmers market makes you become more connected to your food and also on a social level. Many vendors were friendly, offering samples and explaining how items were grown or processed. It was also a social experience with many groups of people walking around just talking. I believe that there are many other benefits that the farmer’s market has to offer that I didn’t mention such as purchasing local products and buying healthier choices.

After visiting the farmers market I realized some pros/cons of both the market and grocery store that I was unaware of before. Although I would go back to the farmer’s market in the future, I prefer the grocery store.

Eller, Daryn. “Farmer’s Markets a Trip to Bountiful.” Vegetarian Times 297 (2002): 34-40. Print.