Teaching About Food and Community at the Cedar City Farmers Market

So, I am kind of a farmer’s market junkie.

I visit my farmer’s market every week. We have an amazing farmer’s market in Cedar City. Every Wednesday from 4-7 p.m the local farmers and growers share their beautiful delicious ware. I personally love getting my figs there every week. But I also love the local honey that is sold there and the friends I have made visiting with the real foodies of this world every week. Last week one of the apple vendors practically chased me down so he could tell me all about his apple varieties he is carrying this year. I love that! That real connection to my community, to growers in my community and to food.

But I also think the Farmer’s Market is a great place to teach my kids about nutritious food . This last week I told my daughter (who has a really unhealthy love of fast food and junk food) that we would be buying our potatoes at the farmer’s market instead of the grocery store. She would have to wait for our weekly visit to buy her favorite veggie.

When we made our way around to the known potato farmer in this area, I invited my 10-year-old to grab a bucket and fill it up with whatever potatoes she wanted. Freshly dug beautiful potatoes. She gleefully filled her bucket, while I laughed and joked with the sellers. I hope I taught her something about being excited about eating healthy and good food. I hope I made it more of an experience than just filling her plate with junk. She knows where that food came from now. She has laughed and smiled with the people that got their hands dirty laboring to bring food to people’s tables.

I do grow my own garden. It is small but every other morning my other daughter and I pick blackberries and tomatoes or dig up carrots. My kids love those carrots. They taste better than the store bought and they come fresh and full of vitamins from the garden. My youngest daughter has pulled the weeds around those carrots many a morning and she knows the work that has gone into growing her food. There is a real satisfaction in eating something grown with your own hands. I hope that this experience in the garden will mean lasting memories and healthy attitudes about food.

But, a small garden means I still need to visit the farmer’s market and I do so happily. I am sad when it is over in October. I look forward to it all winter while I wander around the produce section in the grocery store.

For those of you living in Southern Utah or passing through come visit our  Wednesday market. I promise you will find something delicious.

What is your favorite thing to buy at your farmer’s market?

Tags: Cedar City, farmers market, food health, gardening, Utah's farmer's markets