One of the things I miss most when we are in our little Alaskan home is going to farmers markets. Fresh fruits and veggies are extremely hard to get for us during those 9 months out of the year, so I was super excited at the prospect of stuffing myself full of fresh foods over the next 10 weeks of traveling through the lower 48 states. To get my fill of fresh produce, one day this week I headed out to the Holland Farmers Market in Holland, Michigan with my family.
I love going to farmers markets because supporting local farmers and businesses is important to me. Plus, I always feel a bit of a pull to the lifestyle that comes with farmers markets. You see, I was raised in a farming community. My family owns farmland, and I spent a good portion of my childhood staring out the window at cornfields. My mom has also always been a serious gardener and I’ve spent countless hours watching her grow produce. Homegrown food has always been a part of my life, which is why I think I feel this connection and desire to support those who put in the laborious efforts associated with it.
When I stop and think about the amount of labor that goes into producing the items I see at a farmers market, I can’t help but think about food waste. This was a hot topic in my mind as I strolled through the rows and rows of vendors. At one booth we stopped for homemade bread. The woman and her husband at the bread booth had at least one hundred loaves, of all types and varieties. She casually mentioned that her husband is a baker and makes them all. I was astounded! I make one or two loaves a week for our home in Alaska, but it is hard to fathom the time and energy that must go into making hundreds of loaves.
This got me thinking that I needed to make sure that I was mindful of how we would be using our purchased goods throughout the next week or so. We walked away with one loaf of bread, 1lb of asparagus, half of a watermelon, 1qt of strawberries, and one jar of jelly. The asparagus was cooked up promptly for our Saturday dinner, while the watermelon was chopped up and snacked on after a long day of swimming. Obviously, with the house full of people I’m currently residing with, many of the items we buy will get used up. But what about the things that don’t?
With this in mind, I started writing a list of ideas of what I could do with the leftovers. For example, for the strawberries I thought about making strawberry shortcake, strawberry & banana smoothies, or sangria. For the jelly I thought about making toast for breakfast, mixing it with cream cheese on crackers, or topping a fillet of salmon with it (it was lemon and rosemary – PERFECT for fish). I found that making a list of ways to use up the things we bought was helpful because it forced me to do some planning. I’m thinking about incorporating something like this into my weekly meal planning routine when we are back in the village. Perhaps this will help me stay accountable and not throw out so much food. Hopefully, the list will be helpful and I can start to become more conscience of what we throw away versus what we eat.
Yay! I am on a mission to reduce food waste and I love seeing people becoming aware of how they can make the most of the food they buy. I have some tips, recipes, resources, etc on my blog if you’re interested. Keep up the great work!
Hi, Lisa! I am interested to read your blog! Reducing our food waste is a big goal for my family this year, but we are very new to it. I’d love to check out some of your tips and suggestions. How long have you been making a conscience effort to reduce waste?
I’ve always been interested in it but I’ve really started implementing it in our house over the past few months. We’ve done a pretty good job, even with a 2 year old that often eats a bite or two of something then leaves it. It’s all baby steps but I think once you’re dedicated to it, it’s hard to stop! Best of luck and let me know if you have questions or want to chat about your journey!
While you’re in the lower 48, have you considered drying produce to take home? Dried celery, onions, carrots can be the start for soups and casseroles (my favorite in winter) and they’d be cheaper to transport with the water dehydrated out. I also dry a lot of fruit while it’s abundant, to enjoy with oatmeal during the rest of the year. It prevents waste and supplies us in the long run.
Love these suggestions! I have been hoping to dry some veggies for the winter, but hadn’t really considered fruit. That’s a great thought though. I’ve never dried anything before…any suggestions? Or any recipes using the dried ingredients that you’d like to share?
I’d dry anything you like to eat fresh, except grapes. They take forever to make into raisins, and they’re easy to buy anywhere. I’ve dried loquats, peaches, oranges, whatever we have in abundance. If you’re buying it, dry whatever you have lots of. Ask around for a food dehydrator — it is lots easier than using an oven.Just make sure you cut the fruit into small pieces so they’re easy to dry and easy to eat. As for how to use them, we just throw them into cereal or oatmeal, or I use them in quick breads or muffins. I don’t really have a recipe, but they do get used up!
I like to put a sticky note on the fridge listing the leftovers tohelp me remember what I have (and to fend off he hated question “What’s there to eat?”). I also label the leftovers with the date, so I know if they’re too old to safely eat.
Oooh, I like this idea! Maybe I could do it with a dry erase board?
I love going to the food market as well! And in my city it is also much cheaper than the supermarket Most of the time we buy much more than we need, because they only sell the whole box with 3kg for 1 or 2€ and won’t give you less e.g. strawberries. So we end up making tasty things like jam, milkshakes, fruit salads!
xx, Eleonora my personal lifestyle blog