This Week's Vendors, and Great Reasons to Shop at a Farmers Market (as if you really need them)

Glorious weather is forecast for this Wednesday's market!  We've had a busy year despite some of the breathtaking heat and humidity, and the Market Committee (and vendors!) truly appreciate all the customers who have come to buy the locally grown and created goodies.

First things first:  This week's vendors include our regulars - Chet's Italian Ice, George Hall Farm, Hastings Farm, Hemlock Knoll, Lost Acres Orchard, Newgate Farms, Oxen Hill Farm, Raw Foods Central, Sweet Pea Farm, and Sweet Wind Farm - plus, this week: Another Way Farm, Briarwoods Farm, Lyric Hill, and Woof N Wheels. 

We're in the middle of peak growing season, so you can expect a wide variety of vegetables this week, including all sorts of squash, eggplant, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, kale, onions, beets - and this is just a partial list.  Fruits will include blueberries, raspberries, and if we're lucky, maybe some early peaches.  In addition to fresh grown, we have fresh baked - cookies, artisan breads, pies, and lots of other yummy stuff.  Fresh meats, cheeses, maple products, jams and preserves, yogurt, honey, raw vegan snacks, soaps and lotions, dog treats - all great reasons to stop by to stock up for your week and weekend.

If that's not reason enough to shop at the Market, here is some "fresh" food trivia:

The distance food travels from farm to table is referred to as "food miles".  Tomatoes typically travel 1369 food miles from farm to grocery store.  Onions travel average 1675 miles; celery, 1788 miles, romaine lettuce, 2055 miles.  Typical grocery produce travels an average of 1500 food miles to get to your home.  And only 3.5 cents of every dollar spent on grocery store food actually gets to the farmers.  Farmers Markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar. 

If that doesn't convince you to shop for local products in season, here's another reason:  fresh simply tastes better.

East Granby Farmers Market is a farm-oriented venue for the very best in Connecticut grown produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods, and other handmade and locally harvested items.  The Market is open from 3 - 6PM on Wednesdays, June 19th through September 25th, 2013, and is located at The Center Shops, corner of Routes 20 and 187, in the center of East Granby.  The Market is run entirely by volunteers, and vendor fees directly benefit the East Granby Public Library.