Local & Fresh

Eating food grown locally means the food we eat is fresher and more nutritious. It allows food dollars to stay in the local economy. And buying locally grown products makes us better stewards of our environment. All things considered, it is better for us, our future and our children's futures!

Locally Grown

How do you know if the food is locally grown? Just ask! Whether you buy food from a major grocery store, your corner convenience store or an all-in-one big box store, learn where your food comes from. One study found the average "fresh" produce in a grocery store was 7 - 14 days old, has been selected for ease of picking and shelf-life, and has traveled approximately 1,500 expensive miles, losing nutrition and taste along the way. Many times, a consumer is paying more for the fuel to transport the produce than the farmer is receiving for his crops.

All food sold at the Creekside Farmers Market must be grown within 100 miles of Needville. It is typically less than 24-hours old and most farmers use organic or sustainable growing methods. And, you are buying directly from the producer. The farmer that planted the seed. The person that raised the livestock. The baker that made the bread.

Nutritious Food That Tastes Great

Many grocers only offer one or two kinds of any given fruit or vegetable. That has to due with central buying issues, inventory control and something they call "turn". Let's talk tomatoes for a moment. There are over 500 readily available varieties of heirloom tomatoes. The heirloom varieties are those that have typically been passed down from generation to generation. They come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, flavors and sizes. Most are disease and pest resistant and don't require synthetic chemicals to grow. If all of this is true, why don't grocery stores carry any of them?

Great question. The simple answer is...those are not the qualities grocers are looking for in fruit. More important than taste is having a great looking fruit three to four weeks after it has been picked. After all, once picked, it must be sorted, processed, packaged and then shipped to one or more distribution centers. It is then purchased and shipped to your grocer. Once it arrives, it waits for a consumer to take it home where it then needs to remain healthy looking for another week or so. Thus, hybridizers have been selecting cultivars that have a long shelf life.

Heirloom tomatoes may have taste, nutritional value and wonderful flavors, but they don't have much of a shelf life. Thus, they must be sold right off the vine to allow the consumer to have another week or two on the counter top.

So, when someone asks you where you got those wonderful tomatoes, tell them you bought them fresh from a local farmer.