Visiting a farmers market is often a fun experience for a few simple reasons. Obviously, going to the market gets everyone out of the house, and it also opens up the possibilities for interacting with people you don't know and picking out the food your family will eat for the week.
But farmers markets can offer families so much more. In fact, there's quite a lot that kids can learn from making the trip.
1. Food Is Seasonal
If your children are used to going to the grocery store and picking up groceries for the day or week, it's entirely possible that they've never been introduced to the reality that many foods grow seasonally. After all, if you can get strawberries year-round at your local grocery store, it likely doesn't occur to you that when left to their own devices, strawberries are a seasonal food. Knowing when the food they eat grows can help your kids feel more connected to their meals, their bodies, and the world around them.
2. What Farming Really Looks Like
If a child hasn't spent time on farm, it's not their fault that they don't know what farming really is and what it can look like. The truth is that farms are a spectrum, and what works for one farming family doesn't work for another. At a farmers market, your kids have the opportunity to stand face-to-face with people who grow their food, who raise animals, and who are really farming — and they have the opportunity to understand and conceptualize what that really looks like.
3. That Healthy Food Should Be Available to Everyone
Too many people in America live in food deserts, which are areas in which there are no options to buy healthy food. A lot of farmers markets accept SNAP benefits from families who utilize the public service, which is a powerful thing to explain to your children. Everyone should have access to healthy food, and taking your children to farmers markets that make sure to prioritize everyone no matter how they are paying is a big step toward raising children who are socially conscious and responsible.
4. The Names and Variety of the Foods They Eat
Farmers markets often offer a plethora of vegetables and fruits, and visiting the market with your kids will allow your children to really explore all of those options and to know the names of what they are putting into their bodies. Your kids might not like eating onions, but visiting your market together and showing your kids the whole range of types of onions that exist gives them a little more autonomy and power when it comes to making their own decisions about their diets in the future.
5. That Communities Really Belong to One Another
One thing that is really beautiful about farmers markets is that it brings together two people who might otherwise never meet if you only shop at a conventional grocery store: the person who grows the food and the person who buys it. Visiting a farmers market is a wonderful opportunity for your children to connect with the person or people on the other end of that exchange, and to understand that these people often live a relatively short drive away.
6. The Value of Small, Local Businesses
Likewise, a farmers market is a great place to introduce your kids to the importance of shopping local. After all, many farmers markets not only have vendors offering food they have grown but also have people selling products they have made. Shopping small and local can be a literal community saver.
7. How to Become an Adventurous Eater
Visiting a farmers market together can also be something that inspires your kids to try foods they previously shunned. After all, it might be more appealing to finally give broccoli a chance when you know that the nice woman who has the sweet dog that licked your hand is the one who grows it.
