 Walworth
County Farmers Market
Saturdays
June 7,
2008 thru
October
18, 2008
8:00 am
to 12:00 noon
At the
Courthouse Square
Elkhorn,
WI
Family
Fun-Food-Produce-Homespun Crafts
The
Local Advantage of your Walworth County Farmers' Market
Why
all this emphasis on local?
Choosing to buy locally
is just that, a choice.
- Buying local helps farmers. Selling directly to customers
helps farmers set their own prices and minimizes the use of
middlemen that may take much of the profit from farmers. Studies
show that only 18 cents of every dollar you spend at the grocery
store is returned to farmers.
- Buying local supports local businesses. Studies show that
farmers are much more likely to spend their money locally than
other individuals. By supporting local farmers, you support
the local economy as well.
- Buying local preserves farmland. Keeping farmers in business
means maintaining farmland. A study by the American Farmland
Trust shows that Northeast Illinois and Southeast Wisconsin
is the 3 rd most endangered farming region in the United States!
- Buying local. Good and Good For You! Food purchased locally
and in season is fresher, of higher quality and much more flavorful.
Most produce is picked before it is ripe, sometimes a week before
it is purchased! This compromises quality, taste and freshness
of the products.
- Buying local connects farmers and consumers. The average
American is approximately 3-5 generations removed from the farm.
Children no longer understand that French fries come from potatoes
or that apples grow on trees. Informed consumers want to know
how and who is producing their food. Get to know your farmer
today!
- Buying local lowers transportation and energy costs. The
average food item travels 1,500 miles before it arrives on your
plate or in the grocery store shelves. In California alone,
more than 485,000 truckloads of fruit and vegetables leave the
state every year and travel from 100 to 3,100 miles to reach
consumers. It is estimated that 6 to 12 percent of the consumer
dollar spent on food consumed in the home represents transportation
costs.
When
you buy local food in season, it tastes better!
For example,
California accounts
for 83% of U.S. strawberry production. While out of season strawberries
may look great, they are often watery and tasteless compared to
local berries sold in season. Strawberries use more pesticides
per acre than any other crop grown in California.
Modern tomatoes have
been bred to withstand the long distance road trip from field
to your dinner table. Locally grown tomatoes taste better because
they are picked ripe and flavor and nutrition are emphasized instead
of durability. Heirloom varieties taste great and preserve genetic
diversity.
Today, a few large corporations
produce 97% of the chickens consumed. Poultry workers may handle
up to 91 carcasses a minute in large facilities and the centralized
production and processing result in large concentrations of manure
and offal, contributing to water pollution and odor problems.
Many claim that meat from local farm-raised chickens is better
tasting and more nutritious than birds raised in large confinement
operations.
Enjoy
the season's best this year at the Walworth County Farmers' Market!
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