Food Matters - What to Ask at Farmer's Market

What we eat and where we buy it matters in producing more nutritious food, healthier soil and lowering our carbon footprint. We want to buy from farmers who have earth friendly practices that increase soil and plant health and reduce green house gas emissions.

Organic farming is better than conventional but regenerative farming is the best. Here is the difference:

Regenerative farming builds soil health.

• Adds cover crops; reduces tillage; diversifies species.

• Brings animals to the land; uses compost.

• Takes different mindset: cares for the land, doesn’t just  grow food.

Organic farming:

• Substitutes biological material for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides.

Conventional farming:

• In contrast, destroys soil productively; single-species crops require synthetic materials that poison soil organisms.

• Pesticides have hormone-disrupting chemicals that go into your food & are bad for your health.

Topsoil throughout the world is being seriously degraded. 95% of our food is grown in topsoil. It matters. Find out more here.

You can make a difference in what you buy at the farmer’s market. Let the vendor know you want earth friendly practices. They are healthier for you too!

What to Ask Vendors at Farmer’s Market

• Where is your farm located? 100-150 mile radius is considered local.

• How many different types of produce do you grow?

• Did you grow or raise yourself?

• How did you get such great color, size, shape and results?

• Do you use pesticides?

• When was this picked?

• Do your farming methods include any of the following steps to improve your soil’s health?

• Reduce tillage (no till?)?

• Plant cover crops? 

• Have diversity in your crop planting or crop rotation?

• Use animal waste, including manure on the crop   fields?"

Let farmer’s know how they produce food matters to you.