Eating Local, Wherever You Go

I’m a regular at the Collingswood Farmer’s Market, but I can’t be there every Saturday. Last weekend, the Mill City Market in Minneapolis hit the local foods spot while on vacation.

Mill City Farmer's Market in Minneapolis.

Photo by Jen A. Miller.

I wasn’t looking for a farmer’s market on Saturday morning. I was out on a run that started in downtown Minneapolis and wound down to the Mississippi River. Polka music and the smell of some kind of meat frying drew me to the Mill City Farmer’s Market.

“We have to come back,” I told my running partner as we made our way through the crowd. 

We did -- on bikes and with wallets -- and bought local raw milk cheddar cheese, farm fresh cucumbers and peppers, a bag of crackers, tub of salsa, and, on the ride home, a bottle of locally made wine (to be enjoyed after parking the bikes). Together, those ingredients made the best meal of the vacation.

Midwest farms have their strengths – cheese being a big one – but we did pass on the tomatoes and the watermelons. The tomatoes didn’t look fat and juicy as the Jersey tomatoes I buy at home, and the watermelons were tiny compared to the sugar babies I ate this summer by cutting the melon in half and scooping the fruit right out with a spoon. (Why bother cutting out pieces if you’re just going to eat it all anyway?)

The first thing I did when I got home was pick a few cherry tomatoes from my backyard for lunch, and I’m already researching recipes on what I’ll do with the box of Jersey apples I’ll pick up at the Collingswood market this Saturday.

Healthy and happy eating, I’m learning, isn’t about low fat or low carb or low cal. It’s about eating what is fresh and local, no matter where local happens to be. 

Tags: South Jersey | Collingswood Farmers Market