By Jenna Jauregui: Digital Media Manager
Pictures by Toria Bodden
Above Image: Gaytan Farms
In a world of pre-packaged, frozen edibles, farmers markets are a fresh reminder of food’s more natural origins. Comprised of many different vendors selling their locally grown and homemade wares, farmers’ markets offer consumers the rare opportunity to purchase food and goods direct from the source—fostering a human connection between consumers and those who nurtured their products to ripe perfection. This creates a unique shopping experience that keeps you, the environment, and the local economy strong and healthy.
CSUSM hosts the San Marcos Certified Farmers’ Market once a week. The market just celebrated its first anniversary, and hopes to continue raising student awareness and support of its services. Lorrie Scott, who manages this market as well as those in Valley Center and City Heights, describes the market as a “nice environment,” offering an exciting sensory experience of colorful sights, delicious flavors, and pleasant conversation. According to her, the market includes around 25 vendors selling “handmade artisan jewelry and clothes, really good artisan bread, local honey, an awesome variety of hummus, homemade butter with garlic, rosemary, or basil, sweet almond butter that’s awesome on pancakes, award winning salsa with chips and tortillas, tamales, smoked fish with flavors that will really knock your socks off, oils, balsamic vinegars, stainless steel water bottles, really cool woven bags for shopping, and all kinds of recycled stuff and environmentally conscious items.”
If the food itself isn’t enough to entice you to explore the plethora of outdoor stands, Scott invites students to consider the economic benefits of shopping at the farmers market. “The dollar spent on a local business in the community has three times the impact on the local economy than if that money gets spent in a nationwide chain or big box store,” she said. The more support the market receives, the more it can expand and gain more vendors. Buylocalthinkglobal.com describes how buying local food from farmers’ markets benefits the environment as well as the economy. The site explains, “Transporting food long distances uses an incredible amount of fossil fuel that releases pollutants into the atmosphere contributing to global climate change and air pollution.” Fresh, locally grown food is also a better choice for a healthy lifestyle. According to Scott, “The majority of the nutrients are still available when it’s fresh, where as when it’s been sitting around on the grocery shelf for a week, the nutrients get reduced every day after it is picked. The more alive your food is, the more alive you are!”
The CSUSM Farmers’ Market is held every Wednesday afternoon in the front parking lot off Craven Rd. Its operating hours are 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 1 p.m. to sunset in the winter season. Visit the market’s information booth to learn about the Fresh Fund Program and other options available to federal assistance recipients (WIC, SSI, and EBT). The farmers’ market also offers demonstrations and activities ranging from cooking demos to musical performances. To receive advance notice about these events, sign up for the e-mail list at the market. Notices will be sent weekly on Wednesday morning. Next on the event calendar is a dance demo on September 22. For a complete list of local farmers markets and more information, visit www.sdfarmbureau.org/BuyLocal/Farmers-Markets.php.
