Hey guys!

It’s my favorite time of year to cook and enjoy seasonal foods!! I love being able to grow all the colorful veggies and fruits, venture out to the local farmers markets and support our small independent farmers! Eating locally grown foods comes with its advantages – higher nutrient content for you and s greater support for our local community! Most produce at farmers markets are left on the vine until ripe and often picked same day of market! This means you’re eating super nutrient and antioxidant rich fruits and veggies unlike the produce that sits on grocery store shelves. That produce is picked before the nutrients have had a chance to develop fully (aka “un-ripe”) and then any value it does have declines from the moment its picked to the 5 days it is in transit to the 3-4 days it sits on grocery stores shelves. You get the point!

Furthermore, eating seasonal foods picked when ripe also means you are getting more flavorful foods! I’m sure you can attest – a garden fresh tomato or a freshly picked peach tastes so much better than ones you get at the store! And who doesn’t want their foods full of flavor? Just like nutrient density, flavor declines with time after a food is harvested.

Shopping at farmers markets gives you, the consumer, a chance to make a connection to the foods you are eating – an opportunity for us to take a moment and really appreciate the foods we eat! To build community! There is so much more transparency than what you get at the store. You can interact with our local farmers and discover how your food was grown/raised and harvested! You get to ask all the questions and have them answered right there on the spot! You’ll find most farmers don’t use the high power, health robbing, cancer inducing herbicides and pesticides conventional farms and big corporations spray religiously to promise their produce makes it to you looking the same as it did 2 weeks ago. That’s not normal. The only way we should be preserving our fruits and veggies are canning, dehydrating and freezing methods…that is if you really care about health prevention!

I also love that we are seeing more local farmers raising grass fed beef! I’ve been lucky enough to have been raised on my dad’s grass fed beef and refuse to eat any other kind! Why? Because they are grown without antibiotics or hormones and raised on the diet nature intended (delicious green grass and hay not grains), it is much less inflammatory than conventional beef and much richer in nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin E and CLA. All important for your health!! Did you know its also better for mother earth? By eating local foods, your lessening your global footprint because your meal isn’t guzzling the gas required for the average meal to table distance (1500 miles!)!

Okay guys, I hope this little bit of info has inspired you to start a small section of garden in your yard or encouraged you to start checking out all our local farmers markets! To help get you started I’ve listed some links as well as locations to support our local foods & farmers!

Check out the farmers markets – all the details on when & where!

https://www.visitspokane.com/things-to-do/shopping/farmers-markets/

LINC Foods is a worker and farmer owned food hub based in Spokane, WA. We envision the Inland Northwest with a robust local food system and a vibrant ecosystem. Place to connect you to local farmers as well as purchase.

http://www.lincfoods.com/

https://casacanofarms.com/about/

https://browningbeef.com/

https://www.holbertfarms.com/

Area Restaurants serving locally grown / raised foods

· Central Foods

· Inland Pacific Kitchen

· Latah Bistro

· Luna

· Manito Tap House

· The Grain Shed

· Wandering Table