'The Way We Should Be Eating'

The GO LOCAL farmers' market returns to the “White Church” on Saturday, June 2, for its third year.

“This is the way we should be eating,” said Lisa Browning, a registered dietitian who manages the Saturday morning market at the Barrington Congregational Church. "It's access to delicious, nutritious, healthy food at your doorstep."

"This is farm fresh food," Browning said. "You should do your shopping here for fresh produce and baked goods. And the more support given, the lower the prices can be."

The market will run every Saturday through October, she said. Dozens of vendors from Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts will set up booths and tables each week, although the mix of vendors will change weekly.

"The market is a community event," said Browning, "a happening, a place to see friends and neighbors. It's about supporting local farmers and merchants, supporting the local economy, your neighbors."

Among the local products at the market will be fresh eggs; breads and pastries; artisanal and goat cheeses; meats, seafood, and lamb; all-natural and cage-free poultry; candy and confections, salad greens and herbs, dips and spreads, organic honey and related products.

You can't miss seeing the market if you drive by on County Road. The vendors set up shop in the parking area between the church’s education building and County Road.

The farmers market also will have “something special" just about every week. It opens next Saturday, for instance, with "La Creperie making made-to-order crepes,” said Browning. And Mark Taber, a local keyboard musician, will be providing music.

Volunteers from the church help Browning organize the farmers market. Vendors lease the space with the fees going to the church.

GO LOCAL accepts credit and debit cards, food stamps, WIC vouchers and senior coupons, Browning said.

Local farming is agriculture at its most abundant and healthful, Browning said. You know who grows your

Here is a sampling of the 2012 vendors and their products:

• Seven Stars Bakery, breads and baked goods
• Bristol Bakery, breads and pastry
• Providence Coffee Roasters, fair-trade coffee
• Oakdale Farm, an organic farm that uses Integrated Pest Management to minimize the use of pesticides
• Aquidneck Island Apiaries, organic honey and similar products
• Nettie's Kettle Corn
• Sweet Lorraine's Candy Shoppe, candy, chocolate and confections
• The Farmers Garden, fresh vegetables
• Baffoni's Poultry Farm, natural, cage-free poultry and eggs
• Earth Esstential Herbals
• Foxboro Goat Cheese
• New Urban Farmers
• Mapleville Farm, preserves and baked goods
• Local Catch, seafood

For more information on the farmers market, click here.  Or go to Facebook here.