To Participate in the Community
The State Street Farmers Market is in the very heart of downtown Bristol therefore in the heart of the community. Every Saturday and Wednesday evenings the market becomes a gathering place for people from every walk of life and every age. Most are set on finding the freshest tomatoes or that perfect cucumber, but if you take a second and look around, you will see folks taking pictures, chatting with friend walking their dogs, playing with their kids. Try to imagine that scene in a supermarket. Add to that mix live music or a weekly cooking demonstration from a local chef and you will see what we mean: The State Street Farmers Market is truly a part of the community.
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To Taste the Flavor of Freshness
Unless you have a backyard garden you can’t get your hands on anything fresher than the produce offered at the market. There is no comparison to freshly picked and locally grown produce to the produce found in supermarkets. In the United States, several studies have shown that most of our food travels an average distance of 1,500 miles before it reaches the grocery store, and the trip often lasts up to two weeks. At the State Street Farmers Market everything you see has to be produced within two hours driving time of the market. Almost all of the produce is harvested within 24 hours of market day.
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To Know Your Food
Everyone knows they are getting fresh food at the market, but what if you have questions about how the produce was fertilized, what the chickens were fed that produced the eggs, what goes into the goat’s milk soap, or who picked the green beans? Just ask the farmer, he will be happy to talk to you about any aspect of gardening.
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To Support the Local Growers
When buying locally and directly from the farmer, producer or crafter more of the money goes to the people who actually perform the laborious task of raising those great tomatoes and other great garden products. There are costs associated with advertising, marketing, or salespeople. In today’s food system, the deck is stacked against the family farm, because everything about the system favors huge producers who can use their size to lower cost and increase profit. Shopping the farmers market is truly a win-win situation, because you are getting the freshest possible food and giving the people who raised it the best possible return for their hard work.
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© 2010 State Street Farmers Market, funded through a grant offered by the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program in agreement with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
