This Jersey Cow Yogurt from Silver Springs won best yogurt at the 2010 American Cheese Society Awards. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
Are you one of those folks that values local farmers markets for the access they give you to great local food? Are you committed to supporting the local food economy, to help ensure it is always here for you in the future? Is how and where your food is produced, and how the farmers, workers, animals and land is treated as important to you as trying the latest, coolest food trend? Do you appreciate that local food, direct from the farm, tends to be fresher, more nutritious, better tasting, and even a better value? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then you are just the person to help us. (Above: award-winning jersey yogurt from Silver Springs Creamery.)
Squash blossoms from Alvarez Organic Farms. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
See, this is a tough year for local farmers. It has been cold and wet, and while that means you are bummed by the lateness and sparsity of many crops, for the farmers, it means they are losing out on the sales of crops they just don’t have. So when you come to your Interbay Farmers Market today, we ask that you think beyond what you wish you could have and instead focus one what the farmers have today. This is a unique year, and it will pass. The question is, will we support our farmers this year, when they need us, over our Americanized concept of eating whatever we want, regardless of season and annual growing conditions, but at the expense of local farmers. If your answer is yes, then please also help educate your neighbors, friends and family. Bring them to the Market. Tell them about this blog. “Like” us on Facebook. Maybe even pickup some extra lettuce for them, or teach them how to eat escarole. You will be helping to ensure that your local farmers continue to endure. (Above: squash blossoms from Alvarez Organic Farms.)
Fresh basil from One Leaf Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
Of course, slowly but surely, many of our favorite summer crops are coming in. Like this basil from One Leaf Farm. Just keep in mind that, as much as you’ve been craving you some fresh, local basil, you still need lettuce, and One Leaf has it, in abundance, on the very same table, in a great selection of delicious, heirloom varieties. And truth be told: because their lettuce, and most of their crops, were literally harvested this morning, they are days, and sometimes weeks, fresher than what you find in most Big Box grocery stores. So when you think about value, don’t just look at price. Think about the fact that the fresher something is, the more nutritious it is… the better tasting it is… and the longer it will last in your fridge, unless, of course, you eat it quickly, which you will want to do.
Gluten-free strawberry tarts and English toffee tarts from Dolce Lou. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
Our local food artisans understand the difference between sourcing their ingredients from a nameless, faceless warehouses and getting them direct from local farmers. The difference is quality. That’s why Dolce Lou uses Hayton Berry Farms strawberries in its gluten-free strawberry tarts (above). And just to dispel another fallacy, in numerous surveys of produce prices in Seattle carried out by the business school at Seattle University, prices at farmers markets were, overall, lower than those for similar produce at all local grocery stores — all of them. If you want convenience and savings, do all of your produce shopping direct from the farmers at your local farmers market, because while price comparisons may vary from crop to crop, overall our prices average out to be lower.
Strawberry-balsamic preserves from Deluxe Foods. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
Heck, Deluxe Foods just made this beautiful batch of strawberry-balsamic preserves using Hayton strawberries as well. Indeed, they are dedicated to using local ingredients in all of their jams and jellies.
Kiss The Pig, the BLT of cupcakes from Cupcake Luv. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
And don’t think that local ends with produce. In fact, Cupcake Luv, which makes amazing cupcakes and other goodies offered at your Interbay Farmers Market, uses Washington-grown flours from Shepherd’s Grain in it’s products, as well as many other local ingredients, from berries to bacon to smoked salmon!
The grill at Skagit River Ranch. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.
And with July 4th weekend coming up, well, tomorrow, why not celebrate American independence with local meat for the grill, like these sausages and hamburgers from Skagit River Ranch. Farms like this one actually helped pioneer the first-ever USDA inspected mobile processing unit, based in Skagit County, in 2001 in order to unchain themselves from factory farms and processors. The independence this rig provided local ranchers allows them now to sell their meats directly to the public at farmers markets. Better yet, because it can roll right onto the farm, it lowers the stress on the animals. Better for them. Better for us. The result is delicious, pasture-raised meats that are lower in saturated fats and higher in beneficial omega-fatty acids. Remember, George Washington helped found a farmers market in Richmond, Virginia in the last 1700s in order to free Virginia farmers from the shackles of selling their products to Europe, only to end up in debt to the French and English. Today, Farmer George from Skagit River Ranch practices similarly revolutionary acts. Celebrate this 4th with some of his revolutionarily tasting meats!
Of course, this is just a highlighting of what you will find today. There is still plenty of other stuff just waiting for you at your Interbay Farmers Market this week. For a full accounting of what you will find, see What’s Fresh Now!
