Morning Market Magic

Our family had a magical morning at the (farmer’s) market. Outside. In January. How’s that for a HUGE Silver Lining (SL)?

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been (I’ve been a tad busy).  I was sublimely delighted to see the winter rainbow of colors.

I’ve always loved going to the Farmer’s Market.  When I say love, I really LOVE it.  Whenever we have guests  in town, I always insist that a trip to the Farmer’s Market be one of the highlights of visiting Santa Barbara.

I look forward to Saturday mornings all week. Actually, truth be told, there are local Farmer’s Markets every single day within a 15 minute drive from our home.  (Dear friends in the Midwest and East Coast, please feel free to throw a F-Bomb my way.)

My favorite market is the Saturday market because it the largest, most diverse one. It feels like a coming together of the entire community and is a fabulous place to unexpectedly catch up with friends (another SL).  I just can’t plan to zoom in and out (I am NOT complaining!).

There are so many more incredible Silver Lining’s (SL’s) at the Farmer’s Market.  I thought I’d share some that are particularly enchanting to me:

1. Freshly picked, organic food is incredibly medicinal.  In fact, some people use the Farmer’s Market as their Pharmacy. So cool.
2. Shopping at the Farmers Market benefits the local farmer and strengthens a local community.
3. Buying locally at the Farmers Market, among other places, cuts down on the energy and resources used to transport and distribute food in grocery stores.
4. Our Farmer’s Market prices are much better than at the grocery store.
5. Because fruits and vegetables are grown locally and picked when perfectly ripened, the taste, texture, and aroma are wonderfully enhanced!
6. Since the produce is picked at the peak of the season, nutrients, and phytochemicals (naturally occurring biochemical compounds found in plants) are  more abundant.

Photos speak a million words, though:

One of my especially favorite parts of the Farmer’s Market is the Dream Foundation Flower Empower Stand that is situated at the entrance to the Farmer’s Market.

Flower Empower is a volunteer program of the Dream Foundation (www.dreamfoundation.org) that delivers donated flower bouquets to people battling catastrophic illness in the Santa Barbara area. Their goal is to bring beauty and hope to people, letting them know that they are not forgotten and that their community cares!

Since June 1994, Santa Barbara volunteers have made more than 20,000 flower deliveries. On Saturday morning, volunteers meet at the Farmer’s Market to assemble bouquets of flowers that are donated by local growers (see what I mean about the community coming together?).

The bouquets are then delivered, along with encouraging cards made by school children (our 4 3/4 daughter has made a few herself!) and homemade cookies, to hospitals, hospices, care facilities, and private homes. Talk about a wonderful, extraordinary beginning and ending SL to the Farmer’s Market trip!

Let food be your medicine.

-Hippocrates