Health & Fitness
Farmers Market with $40
Albany mama returns to the farmers market with grand plans and her three kids (sans shoes) only to find meal planning beyond her abilities.
Still high on my from my last excursion, I returned with forty dollars cash in hand and my three barefoot children.
My grand plan to get some meal planning done quickly devolved into lugging a crying toddler, placating with pastries, chatting it up, and getting into another tete-a-tete with the guy who will forever more be known as the “Ornery Avocado Guy.” I’m warning you people: respect the avocados, or else.
I did manage to spend most of my $40:
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- Cup of and a pound of whole beans=$12
- Pluots, nectarines and apricots=$9
- Olive bread=$4.50
- Random pastries for whining children=$10
No organic veggies. No farm-fresh eggs. No handmade pasta. I need major help here. Please share your farmers market strategies for feeding a family. How do you work it into your regular weekly grocery shopping? How much should I expect to spend? What are some farmers-market-friendly recipe ideas?
I did make two happy discoveries this week.
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First, I don’t need to make a trip to the ATM before coming to the Farmers Market. They have a credit/check card machine that gives you tokens accepted at all the stalls as cash. Also, flyers were being handed out for a program called “Neighborhood Vegetables” that arranges volunteer garden work parties. Hopefully they won’t be scared off by the weeds in my front yard that are as tall as me.
So while my tactical shopping plan was a failure, I did find that the is about much more than food. I connected with my community, learned new things, and came home with some delicious goodies and six dirty feet.
