Soil & Soul: Back to the Land

A recycled bag of muddy vegetables can be a better investment than a shopping bag of shiny designer shoes

One of my favorite summer rituals is the end-of-week trip to a farmers market. It’s a place where most of the products come from the dirt. Yet it’s a clean and restorative experience.

The entrepreneurs I deal with during the week are consumed with growing computer code, PR pitches, tweets, and bottom-line revenue. The people at the market tents are harvesting peaches, kale, beets, and flowers (among other things) and making cheese, bread, and all-natural frozen treats. The number of markets in the U.S. has grown from 1.8k in 1994 to 8.1K last year. That’s a whole lotta greens!

“Dirty candy” is what “Mushroom Dave” at the East Hampton Farmers Market calls his bite size treats like snap peas and cherry tomatoes. The woman from East End Apiaries who sold me honey this week talked lovingly about her bees.

The farmers are all about telling their stories and sharing crops, not crap. My work week is filled with artificial and processed things. When I leave the market, my bag is loaded with clean, real, and good-for-me food. Although my hands may be dirty, I feel cleaner and clearer!

	The back-to-the-land movement
	Chefs and farmers build relationships
	Beware farmers market scams!
	Yes, even Zagats is rating farmers markets!