3 Ways You Can Help the World by Shopping at a Farmers' Market

3 Ways You Can Help the World by Shopping at a Farmers' Market

February 28, 2020 Amy Gallo, SFC Farmers' Market Programming Manager

Spring is approaching and with it come tables laden with snappy greens, gem-colored roots, pastel eggs and sweet strawberry pints. Beyond this abundant display also lie the seeds of resistance.

Did you know purchasing local food from small businesses is a radically important act? Shopping directly from farmers benefits your health, your community, your city and the environment.

Here are our top 3 reasons why you need to make a weekly trip to the farmers’ market. You never know - it just might save the world!

1. You Can Vote with Your Dollars

When you shop at a farmers’ market, you put money directly in the hands of folks who grow, raise, and make the food themselves. By supporting multiple small businesses in one visit you give these farmers more power to make decisions that benefit us close to home.

At the SFC Farmers’ Markets alone our agricultural vendors employ 388 people - on their farms and at the markets. They buy tools and seeds from local shops, they pay local mechanics to fix tractors, and they eat at local restaurants.

2. Fight farmland loss

When you purchase food from local farms, you support the preservation of farmland. You help keep farmers farming and even expand their operations.

SFC farmers’ all grow food within 160 miles of Austin. Cutting down on food transportation miles ensures food is fresher, tastier, and has positive environmental benefits.

These range from offsetting greenhouse gasses to supporting native wildlife to protecting Austin’s watershed.

3. You Help Protect Central Texas Food Security

By supporting local farmers, you are making sure that our local community is food secure.

When we patron local farms we defend our food sovereignty: the right for a community to grow their own food in alignment with their own values.

This provides us with safe food even in the face of foodborne illness outbreaks and protects us from volatile trade disputes.

Growing food in Central Texas helps feed Texans!

You can be a part of this growing community of local food champions by shopping at an SFC Farmers’ Market this Saturday.

Check out the SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown or the SFC Farmers’ Market at Sunset Valley, and say hello to our 40 farmers, 8 ranchers, and 53 small business owners.

See you at the markets!