Our Locavore Forray

Last year I found out about Road's End Farm, which sets up every Saturday at the Oliver Street Market from 9AM until 2PM. What I found out is that if you get onto their waiting list for the following summer, and are willing to pay a lump sum in advance (usually in spring to help with their seed starting), you can get veggies EVERY week that are locally grown! When you pay the lump sum, you get the veggies every week without having to pay, and how much you get depends on the size of the bag you want(which is determined in advance so that you pay the right amount).

I love going to the farmer's market and getting veggies that were probably pick fresh the day before! They always taste better than grocery store bought, AND they travel a far shorter distance! No, I know that not everybody can afford to pay in advance, so don't fret, they sell produce to people who are not part of the presale.

Road's End isn't the only local farmer selling their wares at the market either! There are 14 other venders there, varying from honey, eggs and meat, to spices and veggies. Heck! There's even entertainers playing music while you meander to look at everything!

There is also the Williams Lake Farmer's Market in Boitanio Park on Fridays from 9AM until 3PM. They have a great variety there as well!

The only problem with being a locavore is that you have to learn to cook for the food that is in season. This means that you eat what is readily available from local farmers. A true locavore would not go to the grocery store and buy oranges in December, because there is NO WAY a local farm could have grown them.

I am trying to be a locavore as much as I can be, but I am not able to totally commit to it solely yet. It's hard to change ones ways immediately, I have to say. The changes that I HAVE made though, are slowly putting me on the path. For example, I no longer buy plastic jugs of milk from the grocery store that (more than likely) have travelled from the lower mainland to get here. I now purchase bottled milk, which has travelled less than 100KM to get to my door.

I also (of course) buy produce from the Farmer's market, which has probably (I'm not absolutely certain though) travelled less than 100KM to get to me. I try to buy from the Cariboo Growers Market, which is open all year round, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I'm not entirely sure of their hours of operation on those days, but you can check it out on Oliver Street, across from the KFC.

I do, however, also purchase from the local groceries stores, because I like variety. Although, once I figure out how to can some of the produce that I purchase from the local farmers, I'll be a bit more of a locavore than ever before!  :)