Farmer's Markets

Today we went to the Sunnyvale farmer's market that is located at the Caltrain station by the historic Murphy Street. It's a bit sad - the farmer's market used to be on Murphy Street, but when they were doing construction on Murphy Street, he farmer's market was moved to the Caltrain parking lot and now it's going to stay. I'm sure the businesses on Murphy Street are missing the foot traffic.

The farmer's market is a great way to support local farmers. I'm not sure if I save money at a farmer's market, but I like knowing that the fruit and vegetables are fresh (or at least that is my assumption), I'm able to choose a variety of food and I can find organic produce. Also, I'm able to connect directly with the growers, chat a bit and maybe get an idea of how they grow their produce, and then I feel a bit more of a connection to my food.

I started out with $40, and by the time I was done I was left with $8.85. What did I spend my money on?

I started with a fruit stand and all of the fruits are $2/lb. They say that they grow their fruits without pesticides and in way, that is good enough for me because the fruit at this particular stand is outstanding. There is so much to choose from, white nectarines, white peaches, plums (various kinds), grapes and oranges. It's almost too much. I pick out some nice hard sweet white nectarines, and I end up with around 3.25 lbs., which comes out to $6.75.

Next, I try strawberries from 2 different stands that sell organic strawberries. I guess I insist on organic when it comes to certain fruits and vegetables, like strawberries. Generally, when a fruit or vegetable has a very thin skin, I tend to buy the one that was grown organically. Apparently, pesticides and other herbicides can easily penetrate the skin. The Daily Green blog lists the fruits and vegetables that have the highest pesticide residue and recommends buying organic when buying such fruits or vegetables. Fruits like peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries and nectarines and vegetables such as celery, bell peppers and spinach should be organic. It's scary to think of the amount of pesticides/herbicides we consume on a daily basis and I can only wonder at the cumulative effects. I would like to organic for everything, but it's just not within my budget, so I just try to target the things that should be organic.

So, I finally decide on a stand based on a taste test. One stand had sweeter strawberries. So, for $8, I was able to get 3 baskets of strawberries. A bit pricey, but I love strawberries.

Next, I go to one of my favorite stands, the Happy Boy Farm stand. They have really good heirloom tomatoes this time of year. I was disappointed with the tomatoes the last couple of weeks, but today, they had some nice, ripe brandywine tomatoes (these are great for making tomato sauce for pasta). They are expensive - $3.50/lb, but worth it. I get around 3 lbs., and I spend another $10. A bit steep, but this can be one meal for my whole family (plus some pasta).

Next, on to the Pinnacle stand. I can buy organic produce here and they have good prices. I didn't find anything that I needed, but I generally buy carrots, broccoli and other staples here.

Since I wanted to make my pasta sauce, I was in search of a stand that generally just sells herbs. I find it and I bought some organic basil for $1.50. I also bought some purple garlic from a small stand for $1.

There's an exotic fruit stand. While $2/mango is a bit steep at least it saves me a trip to the store. Sometimes, you just have to factor in the value of your time....

Last but not least, I bought some Italian broccoli. I like this broccoli because it is tender and thus great for my little ones. I grabbed a few handfuls, and at $4/lb, it came out to $1.90.

So, for a grand total of $31.15, I was able to buy fruit for the week, enough for dinner and a side for another dinner. The fruit was a bit pricey, but I was able to get fruit that my family actually likes and is willing to eat (priceless). Sometimes the fruit at the supermarket is just tasteless, maybe they take it off the branch/vine too soon so that it ripens en route, but at a farmer's market, it seems like they allow the fruit to ripen on the branch longer.