Of course You Can Eat Real Food without a farm

Maybe your garden was a bust this year.

Maybe you got sick and tired of the garden and gave up 2 months ago.

Maybe you don’t have a garden.

Maybe you never want a garden.

Whatever the reason, if you aren’t growing your own food, you can still eat real food.

Shopping at little farm markets, local fruit companies or roadside stands is a great way to get your hands on buckets of good food. 

I like to shop at wierd places.  I like specialty stores.  I like locally owned stores.  I like fruit stores that don’t sell anything but real live food.

I don’t want to mention any names, but I HATE big box department stores.

Yes, I am glad they exist.  Yes, I am glad they sell everything.  Yes, I am glad when I leave and can avoid going back for a month.

You know the ones I’m talking about.  The ones that sell everything, but you can’t find anything.  You can get your groceries, a new filter for your HVAC system and some clothes all in one place.  ARRRRRG. I know it’s convenient….

I do shop at them – but I usually complain the whole time I’m shopping there.  I have also been known to complain at check out and on the drive home.

I will always spend more than I planned on.  Of course, I realize that is their plan, and it’s working, and I’m a sucker.  Yes, I have a list.  Yes, I have self control.  Yes, I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.  Yes, I have envelopes.  No, I don’t go over budget.

But I alway spend more than I want.

This not the case if I go to my favorite fruit stand.  It is called Datillo Fruit Co.  You may not have a Datillo’s in your area, but you may have a farm store, a farmers market or something similar not too far from your house.

Buying lots of fresh produce can be expensive.  It’s even more expensive when you have to re-buy more fresh produce because the fresh produce you bought 4 weeks ago is in the outside refrigerator wearing a fur coat because you stuck it in the bottom drawer and forgot it was out there.  Ugh.

This is not an issue 6 months of the year because my food is growing in my side yard.  I pick what I want, whenever I want.  It doesn’t have to be stored in the outside refrigerator.  So, I can’t forget about it.  So, it doesn’t grow sweaters.

The other 6 months of the year I am thankful for Dattillo Fruit Company.  It is the most wonderful place.  Dattilo’s is a wholesale vegetable and fruit company that happens to have a store-front open to the public a few hours each week.  This allows ordinary people like me to buy fresh fruit and veggies for their families at great prices.

You can eat real food even if you don’t have a garden.  

Here’s 6 reasons to visit your local fruit company, farm market or roadside stand to get bags of goodness. 

ONE.  Give the local business some business

DH and I own a small business.  I am so thankful that people in our community come to our store and chose to shop with us.  It’s personal.  We know them.  They know us.  We care about our customers & want to be sure they are happy.

TWO.  Less Selection means Less Spending

When I go into Datillo’s or our local, farm store, the only things for sell are veggies, fruit, eggs and nuts.  That’s all they sell.  I simply can’t run up my bill on other items that I may or may not have gone in there to buy.  It’s a beautiful thing.  I always spend less when I go to smaller, specialty stores or markets.

THREE.  There’s Nothing Processed to Buy

I am not tempted to buy processed foods.  I have no desire to eat Doritos, Frosted Flakes or Kraft Mac-N-Cheese; but I have 4 children who still have an appetite for disgusting food-like substances.  It’s nice to walk into a store where my kids can eat whatever they are selling.  I don’t have to deal with the “please, Mom” and turn into Dr. No.

FOUR.  Bargains

If you ask around you may find that the small markets have boxes of apples in the back on clearance, or bags of bananas they need to get out of the building fast, or just a great sale going on this Saturday.

Datillos is famous for all of these things.  The owner always gives my children a free apple.  They often have boxes of “past their prime” apples that they give to us for our cows and pigs.

FIVE.  Know how it’s grown

I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust our Government to keep my food clean.  I know the folks who own our Roadside Farm stores.  I can talk to the farmers.  I can walk through the acres of tomatoes and pumpkins.  I can see where the food grows, know how it’s grown and have a connection to my food.

SIX.  Mileage

Good grief, do you have any idea how far the produce travelled to get to the big box grocery store?  When you buy that bag of apples you are spending most of your dollars on gas, oil, trucking and moving fees so the apples can get here from Asia.  It’s insane.

Besides the fact that most of the profit in that bag of apples goes to pay the movers, consider how long ago it was picked.  How long was it in a truck?  How long has it been refrigerated? How long has it been at the store?

It makes me crazy.

I like to eat local.  This means eating what I can grow, when I can grow it.  If I purchase foods, I want to at least buy food that was grown in the country where I live.

I try to visit my favorite fruit market every week.

All they sell is real food.  It works into my life and my budget.

And, my children, who like to eat at 1 hour intervals, can grab a healthy snack anytime they want.

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XO,

Candi