--- title: 10 Reasons to Visit a Farmers' Market this Summer description: The weather is warming, summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s the start of farmers market season. From savoring produce at the peak of freshness to meeting the people who grow your food, there are countless reasons to support farmers markets. Here are just a few! image: https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Female%20hands%20holding%20an%20aubergine%20above%20table%20of%20vegetables.jpeg --- [![healthy-citizens-blog-logo](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/healthy-citizens-blog-logo.jpg?width=451&name=healthy-citizens-blog-logo.jpg)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness) [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Backgrounds/search-mobile.png)](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Search) # 10 Reasons to Visit a Farmers' Market this Summer By Melissa Hehmann, RDN, CDE on 6/3/22 12:36 PM ![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Female%20hands%20holding%20an%20aubergine%20above%20table%20of%20vegetables.jpeg) The weather is warming, summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s the start of farmers market season. From savoring produce at the peak of freshness to meeting the people who grow your food, there are countless reasons to support farmers markets. Here are just a few! ## [![Find Your Local Farmers' Market](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2545024/61736d62-5682-460c-b6ac-ef467ce4d484.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2545024/61736d62-5682-460c-b6ac-ef467ce4d484) ## 1. Taste Real Flavors The fruits and vegetables you buy at the farmers market are the freshest and tastiest available. Fruits are allowed to ripen fully in the field and are brought directly to you—no long-distance shipping, no gassing to simulate the ripening process, no sitting for weeks in storage. This food is as real as it gets—fresh from the farm. ## 2. Enjoy the Season The food you buy at the farmers market is seasonal. It is fresh and delicious and reflects the truest flavors. Shopping and cooking from the farmers market helps you to reconnect with the cycles of nature in our region. As you look forward to asparagus in spring, savor sweet corn in summer, or bake pumpkins in autumn, you reconnect with the earth, the weather, and the turning of the year. ## 3. Support Family Farmers Family farmers need your support, now that large agribusiness dominates food production in the U.S. Small family farms have a hard time competing in the food marketplace. Buying directly from farmers gives them a better return for their produce and gives them a fighting chance in today’s globalized economy. ## 4. Protect the Environment Food in the U.S. travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to your plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes to pollution, and creates trash with extra packaging. Conventional agriculture also uses many more resources than sustainable agriculture and pollutes water, land, and air with toxic agricultural by-products. Food at the farmers market is transported shorter distances and is generally grown using methods that minimize the impact on the earth. ## 5. Nourish Yourself Much food found in grocery stores is highly processed and grown using pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modification. Some of it has been irradiated, waxed, or gassed in transit. These practices may have negative effects on human health. In contrast, most food found at the farmers market is minimally processed, and many of our farmers go to great lengths to grow the most nutritious produce possible by using sustainable techniques, picking produce right before the market, and growing heirloom varieties. ## 6. Discover the Spice of Life: Variety At the farmers market you find an amazing array of produce that you don’t see in your average supermarket: red carrots, a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower, stinging nettles, green garlic, watermelon radishes, quail eggs, maitake mushrooms, and much, much more. It is a wonderful opportunity to savor the biodiversity of our planet. ## 7. Promote Humane Treatment of Animals At the farmers market, you can find meats, cheeses, and eggs from animals that have been raised without hormones or antibiotics, who have grazed on green grass and eaten natural diets, and who have been spared the cramped and unnatural living conditions of feedlots and cages that are typical of animal agriculture. ## 8. Know Where Your Food Comes From A regular trip to a farmers market is one of the best ways to connect with where your food comes from. Meeting and talking to farmers and food artisans is a great opportunity to learn more about how and where food is produced. CUESA’s seller profiles that hang at the booths give you even more opportunities to learn about the people who work hard to bring you the most delicious and nutritious food around. Profiles, articles about sellers, and a map of farms are also available on this website. ## 9. Learn Cooking Tips, Recipes, and Meal Ideas Few grocery store cashiers or produce stockers will give you tips on how to cook the ingredients you buy, but farmers, ranchers, and artisans at the farmers market are often passionate cooks with plenty of free advice about how to cook the foods they are selling. You can also attend free seasonal cooking demonstrations by leading Bay Area chefs and evening classes on food preservation and other kitchen skills. ## 10. Connect with Your Community Wouldn’t you rather stroll amidst outdoor stalls of fresh produce on a sunny day than roll your cart around a grocery store with artificial lights and piped in music? Coming to the farmers market makes shopping a pleasure rather than a chore. The farmers market is a community hub—a place to meet up with your friends, bring your children, or just get a taste of small-town life in the midst of our wonderful big city. ### Current Articles ### Recent Issues - [February 2020 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/02) - [February 2025 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/02) - [March 2021 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/03) - [April 2025 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/04) - [July 2021 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/07) - [April 2026 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2026/04) - [March 2020 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/03) - [January 2022 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/01) - [January 2023 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/01) - [August 2020 (11)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/08) - [April 2020 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/04) - [May 2025 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/05) - [June 2025 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/06) - [May 2020 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/05) - [June 2020 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/06) - [January 2024 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/01) - [September 2025 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/09) - [January 2026 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2026/01) - [September 2020 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/09) - [November 2020 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/11) - [May 2023 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/05) - [March 2024 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/03) - [July 2024 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/07) - [January 2025 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/01) - [August 2025 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/08) - [December 2025 (8)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/12) - [July 2020 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/07) - [October 2020 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2020/10) - [May 2021 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/05) - [September 2021 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/09) - [October 2021 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/10) - [November 2021 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/11) - [April 2022 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/04) - [May 2022 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/05) - [June 2022 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/06) - [September 2022 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/09) - [November 2022 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/11) - [July 2023 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/07) - [September 2023 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/09) - [May 2024 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/05) - [June 2024 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/06) - [October 2024 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/10) - [July 2025 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/07) - [October 2025 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/10) - [February 2026 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2026/02) - [May 2026 (7)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2026/05) - [February 2021 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/02) - [June 2021 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/06) - [December 2021 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/12) - [March 2022 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/03) - [July 2022 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/07) - [August 2022 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/08) - [October 2022 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/10) - [December 2022 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2022/12) - [March 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/03) - [April 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/04) - [June 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/06) - [August 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/08) - [October 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/10) - [November 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/11) - [December 2023 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/12) - [February 2024 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/02) - [April 2024 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/04) - [August 2024 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/08) - [September 2024 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/09) - [November 2024 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/11) - [July 2026 (6)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2026/07) - [December 2024 (5)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2024/12) - [November 2025 (5)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2025/11) - [January 2021 (4)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2021/01) - [February 2023 (1)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/wellness/archive/2023/02) [![View Archives](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2545024/e407588d-cae2-4a9b-814b-c305a1e4ba95.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2545024/e407588d-cae2-4a9b-814b-c305a1e4ba95) **Healthy Citizens** is published by Citizens Energy Group, Human Resources Department, under the direction of Mark Bender, Director of Human Resources. It is distributed to the company’s employees and retirees, and to other interested parties upon request. **Editor:** Melissa Hehmann **Graphic Arts:** Wayne Stohs, Joel Bustamante The Human Resources Department welcomes any ideas, comments, or suggestions from readers on how this publication might better serve you. Please email the Human Resources Department at mhehmann@citizensenergygroup.com. Copyright © Citizens Energy Group. All rights reserved. - [Terms & Conditions](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Terms-Conditions) - [Privacy & Security](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Privacy-Security) - [Accessibility](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Accessibility) - [Site Map](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Site-Map)