Alton Brown on Local Farmers Markets

Just a little piece of an article in the USA TODAY paper that reminds me of home.  The topic is local farmers markets and there is a quote from Alton Brown.  I am lucky to live in an area surrounded by orchards and farms and, currently, there are several places chock full of produce.  I load up on as much as I can eat during the summer and fall harvest seasons.  The dreary cold weather the past two days has served as a reminder that I'll be shopping at the grocery store and defrosting the few things I have made.  Maybe Alton will put together a show on making meals from what you can get during harvest.

"Mine is in Marietta, Ga., on the town square, and it's held on Saturday mornings. It has folding tables, cash boxes — as homespun as it gets. I like to take my daughter there so that she can learn what seasonality looks like.

"The offerings aren't shocking, but nice — 75% of the produce is grown from within 10 miles, and the rest within 50 miles. Right now, our market features a massive array of heirloom tomatoes and a lot of squashes people may not have seen before. We have a lot of beekeepers here, so you find a lot of regional honeys. And we have a lot of local bakeries represented. Artisanal bakeries are realizing that exposure at the farmer's market is a great point of advertising for sales."

Follow this link to the original article