The Lexington Farmers' Market is a special place to many Lexingtonians. It is such fun to go to Vine Street on Saturdays and purchase all of the wonderful products provided by the farmers in our region. However, as fall arrives, we sometimes forget that there are still products available. We now have cold weather crops, which include greens and root vegetables. When there is a chill in the air I find few things more comforting than a dinner prepared with one of the winter squash - - acorn, butternut or spaghetti. Add a taste of local meats, eggs, or cheeses to accompany these and you have a delicious "taste of Kentucky" meal.
A question that frequently comes up in the discussion of buying locally grown food is "Is it more expensive to eat local food?" I challenge each of you to go shop in the grocery and compare prices. With the cost of fuel used in shipping in products from distant places, we have a more level playing field than in the past. A recent newsletter from Local Harvest cited one man's venture to find out. He took his notebook to the local supermarket, made a list of the prices for selected fruits and vegetables and then compared notes with the farmers' market. He just compared from the perspective of price; some were more and some were less. I encourage each of you to try this experiment and find out for yourselves. I am confident you will find, as he did, that the prices of local foods are not always more, and are actually often less. And this price comparison doesn't take into account the intrinsic value of shopping locally - - local foods are fresher, healthier and vine-ripened products in particular tend to be more flavorable.
It is possible to purchase some local products that farmers have canned when the crops were at peak production. I adore the fresh peaches that Reed's Apple Valley can from their crop. They sell out so quickly that I had to request some be brought to me at the farmers' market. If one plans carefully, it is possible to eat locally year-round and not sacrifice variety. Some vegetables will keep for a long time in a root cellar, and many things can be frozen. If you need "how to" help, the Fayette County Extension Office has all the necessary information.
Our local market, which takes place on the corner of Maxwell and South Broadway on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on Vine Street on Saturdays, will be open until the first Saturday in December. Then the market is not over, but moves indoors to Festival Market, open only on Saturdays for the winter months. You can still purchase many fresh products year round, and locally grown products that have been frozen can still taste very fresh. The parking at the farmers' market is free. You may park in the parking structure and have your ticket stamped while you shop.
Our local farmers' market has an online newsletter and I agree with market manager Jeff Dabbelt's remarks when he thanked consumers for their local support. Jeff said, "It is the loyalty to the Lexington Farmers' Market, and ultimately the individual farmers contained therein, that continues to strengthen our local food system and make it more sustainable, and for that we should all be grateful. For, without these basic transactions centered around the food we eat, the local scenery, both on market days in town and on the surrounding farms in Central Kentucky, would change dramatically. Without this ritualistic coming together at the markets, the local food system would gradually break down and become non-existent, almost guaranteeing that the food you eat would not be locally grown (unless you grew it yourself), and therefore subject to many vulnerabilities along the way. I mention this not to be an alarmist or try and scare you into coming to market, but rather to reiterate what we all know and recognize as important in this community and beyond. I also wanted to demonstrate how lucky we are to reside in an area that has such a wonderful group of farmers bringing their products, and the products or other farmers, into our city so that we may choose from the finest items available and purchase them directly from the producers that know the most about them."
We are lucky to have such a thriving market which is recognized by our civic leaders - - both the CentrePointe and The Distillery District proposals for TIF funding have included a home for the market in their plans. Thanks to their support and yours, we continue to get closer to a permanent home for the market which will mean that we will be able to buy local foods for many years to come.