Introduction

According to Bharat Bhise, navigating your local farmers’ market can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t have a specific goal or if it is your first time. However, it is also one of the best ways to help your community, source healthy food ingredients, and experience the delight of interacting with people with different mindsets.

Tips & Tricks

Here are a few tips you can follow to navigate farmer’s market:

  1. Always keep small bills with you – It is okay to bring $50 or $100 bills with you if you intend to purchase many food products or items in bulk. However, if you just plan to purchase a few fruits or vegetables, it can be difficult to exchange those large bills.

Thus, it makes sense to have a few small bills such as $5 or $10 so that you can avoid such inconveniences and purchase what you want without any delays.

  1. Become friends with the local farmers – Being friends with your local farmers can be an exciting prospect. If you find a particularly appealing batch of fruits, vegetables, or homemade food products, you can complement their effort and ask them for the best recipes that go with them.

Creating a good relationship with your local farmers would also make you entitled to discounted prices or extra convenience such as help with picking the freshest veggies or tips on how to create pickles.

  1. Bring reusable bags with you – Nowadays, many vendors avoid the use of plastic bags since reducing the usage of plastic bags is incredibly good for the environment. However, it is inconvenient for us since we have to deal with the hand-juggle of food and food products that we purchase.

Fortunately, this issue can be solved easily if you bring a reusable plastic or paper bag with you while visiting your local farmers’ market. Ensure that it is of suitable size and if you want to purchase many products, you can simply bring a few reusable bags of suitable size.

  1. Take advantage of free offerings and samples – Most vendors in a farmer’s market will often have a sample of their food product for potential customers to try. This would allow you to judge the quality of their offering before making a purchase. So, if you are not sure about making a purchase, ensure you at least do a taste test of the sample.

It is also recommended that you come empty stomach so that you can try out many things. And, if you have kids at home, you can even bring them with you to try free sample food products.

Conclusion

Bharat Bhise suggests you arrive at your local farmers’ market as early as possible in order to source the freshest veggies and fruits. Arriving early would also allow you to choose from many different options since the inventory of the products will dwindle by the late afternoon. However, if you want to get food and food products at a discount, it can be a good idea to visit the farmers’ market at the end of the day when they offer discounts to clear up their stock for the day.