Last Saturday (9/8) , we ventured out on a foraging trip to a local Farmer’s Market.

Finding a convenient Farmer’s Market is not as easy as you’d think. This is how the supermarkets suck you in–they’re ubiquitous and nearly always open. One even lets you shop online and delivers the food to your door. But they say anything worth having is worth working for.

I Googled on ct farmers markets and found the CT Farm Fresh Web site listed a few links down. (What did we do before Google?) Using their map, I found several farmer’s markets in the county. Most are open one or two days a week during normal business hours. Not a great convenience for working people. However, the Bethel Farmer’s Market (the nearest one by a lot) is open on Saturdays!

So we went. I was impressed with the selection and the number of participating farms. There were tomatoes, lettuces, kale, apples, peppers, onions, more tomatoes, herbs, pies, and much more. I picked a good week for my first forage! The prices were reasonable and for the most part, the quality was super. I left with cilantro, tomatoes, and McIntosh apples. Very happy.

I titled this post First Forage, although this is not my first-ever visit to a farmer’s market; it is the first deliberate forage since reading Kingsolver’s book. I still need to find a market that will solve my “putting by” issues. I also am on the lookout for (egads) meat!

With all due respect to Henry David Thoreau, I wish to eat more deliberately so that at the end of my days I would not realize that I hadn’t eaten food at all.

Like I said, Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle awakened something in me and lit a match under my butt.

Corporate food favors items that look attractive, package well, ship well, and last through the journey. Local growers have the luxury of choosing genetic lines that taste better and contain more nutrients.

• I don’t want to eat food provided by one of the six major food corporations controlling the global food supply.
• I don’t want to eat food that can’t reproduce itself.
• I don’t want to eat food that traveled 3000+ miles to get to me. I want to pay for food, not transportation.
• I don’t want to eat food that consists of hormones, pesticides, unnatural fertilizers, and genetic modifications.
• I do want to eat food that is more nutritious and tastes better.
• I do want to eat food that is grown sustainably.
• I do want to be part of the solution.

I am keeping this blog as a place to ask for and share information and a catalog of what I have found.