Doing your weekly shopping at a farmers market is pretty great. It’s more affordable; it supports the local economy and it fosters a sense of community and trust seeing the same faces every Saturday morning. As well as these fabulous benefits, buying from a farmers market can do wonders for your health in ways you might not have heard of! Here are five more reasons to choose farm fresh food.

Freshness Matters

Fruits and vegetables sold at supermarkets are often several days old by the time you pick them up off the shelf. They usually spend a few days being shipped or driven in refrigerated trucks, where they lose a great deal of their freshness and nutritional value. Whereas at a good farmers market, produce has often been picked the morning of the market from a local producer, and you can talk to the stallholders to confirm this.

Eat the Rainbow

When farmers pick their produce so close to the date they are being sold, these fruits and vegetables have a chance to ripen fully, resulting in better tasting and more colourful produce. This is something that is very obvious when you visit a farmer’s market and can see how vivid and bright the colours of the fruits and vegetables are. It is common knowledge that more colourful, darker produce is indicative of its nutritional content, making it far better for your health.

Organic and Free of GMO

Most local farmers and producers participating in a farmers market use organic, non-GMO methods to grow their fruits and vegetables. This is something that greatly benefits the health of the soil used to grow this food and more importantly, the people who consume fresh produce. Once you get to the market, you can have a chat to the stallholders about how they grow their fruits and veggies, and whether pesticides or GMO methods are used – something you wouldn’t be able to do at a supermarket.

We Have a New Food Pyramid

It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are all the rage right now. Juices, smoothies, salads and soups are becoming popular substitutes for our previously carb and meat-heavy meals. If you haven’t yet seen the updates to the food pyramid, have a look at them here. You’ll see that fruits, vegetables and legumes should now make up the majority of your everyday diet.

In-Season Is… In Season

In-season produce is the best for you, and while Bondi Farmers Market has very strict rules for stallholders to ensure our produce is always farm fresh, locally sourced and in-season, not all markets do. Have a look at this guide to see what fruits and vegetables are in season in Australia during different parts of the year. Knowing what to buy and when can make a big difference to your overall health!

Want to Know More About Bondi Farmers Market?

For more info on the Bondi Farmers Market and what we stand for, click here. If you share our passion for high quality, local, fresh food and you’re interested in becoming a stallholder, we have plenty of stallholder info on our website. We’re always happy to see our farmers market family expand! If you have any other questions you can’t find the answers to on our website, feel free to get in touch with our team here.