Florida Living: Keep Your Food Fresh, Healthy and Local with Florida’s Farmers Markets

by Vanessa Caceres

Buy fresh, buy local—it’s a theme we hear a lot about nowadays.

If you live in or are even just visiting Florida, farmers markets are an easy way for you to enjoy fresh produce and other food items—and help the local agricultural economy.

Funny enough, even though Florida is one of the nation’s agricultural-heavy states, farmers markets are sometimes hard to come by in the Sunshine State. That’s because many farmers naturally focus on big business that takes their products nationally and even internationally. As a frame of reference, Florida is among the nation’s top suppliers for tomatoes, oranges (of course), strawberries, and cucumbers, among other items.

That said, there’s a passionate group of farmers market organizers and participants who support the local food movement and who help engineer the state’s farmers markets. They include suppliers of produce, honey, cheese, milk, eggs, herbs, and other items.

You might think that many merchants who sell their products at a farmers’ market make their products organically.  This is true to some extent in Florida. However, getting an organic certification can take a good deal of paperwork and expense. Plus, it can be challenging to stay organic in a state like Florida, famous for all sorts of bugs and sandy soil, both of which make farming harder. Instead, you’ll find a number of merchants emphasize that they grow their items as naturally as possible but stop short of organic certification. Still others, like My Mother’s Garden Farm in Wimauma, Fla., is certified organic for its herbs and salad greens by Florida Organic Growers. It also has grass-fed beef, grows a small selection of produce, and hand selects more produce from a Tampa wholesale market to sell at its farm store, Mabry’s Market in Wimauma; and at the Sarasota Farmers Market on Saturdays. The farm sells what it grows to small garden centers and natural food markets in the region.

Whether you want organic items or just want to focus on a fresher, healthier diet, farmers market merchants encourage you to come visit—and ask lots of questions. “Get to know your farmer,” says Susan Bishop, co-owner of My Mother’s Garden. “They’ll tell you how they grow things. They may not be certified organic, but many are trying the best they can to grow products naturally. A lot of them will give you a tour to see how things are grown.”

To find out more about farmers’ markets in your area, you can visit the Florida Community Farmers Market list at http://www.florida-agriculture.com/consumers/crops/commfarmmkt/. Plus, the website Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org) allows you to search for locally sourced food and markets by region.

Two Examples of Great Farmers Markets in Florida

St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market

Farmers markets in Miami no doubt have great international variety, but you don’t have to travel that far south for food diversity. The year-round St. Petersburg Saturday Morning, held on Saturday mornings near the Al Lang Field parking lot not far from the Mahaffey Theater and the new Salvador Dali museum, combines farm merchants with prepared food vendors, live music, craft vendors, and more. Check out the market for Cajun food, fresh Italian buffallo mozzarella cheese, coconut juice served in a coconut, a Mediterranean food truck, organic produce from Punta Gorda-based Worden Farm, and lots more. You’ll also enjoy live music and lots of dog (and people) watching—akin to a street festival.

The Saturday market is the biggest fresh air market in the Southeast United States, attracting 8,000 to 10,000 people each week, according to the market’s website. On a given Saturday, there are about 130 vendors at the market. The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but go early to avoid crowds. For summer 2013, the market moved to nearby Williams Park for shadier digs. It will return to its usual location in the fall.

Discover more about the Saturday Morning Market at http://www.saturdaymorningmarket.com/.

Sarasota Farmers Market

Another year-round market to check out is the Sarasota Farmers Market in downtown Sarasota. With approximately 75 vendors, this market offers an eclectic mix of locally grown produce, eggs, herbs, plants, jewelry, prepared food, fresh seafood, and lots more. The market is a Sarasota tradition for more than 30 years.  The market takes place every Saturday, rain or shine, from 7 a.m. to noon.  To learn more about the Sarasota Farmers Market, go to http://www.sarasotafarmersmarket.org/.

Here’s What to Look for When You Visit Your Farmers’ Markets

What’s Grown in Florida—Season by Season

Winter: cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumbers, grapefruit, green beans, green peppers, limes, oranges, radishes, strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes

Spring: blueberries, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, grapefruit, green beans, green peppers, limes, oranges, radishes, sweet corns, tomatoes

Summer: avocadoes, limes, mangoes, okra, watermelon

Fall: avocadoes, cucumbers, grapefruit, green beans, green peppers, limes, mangoes, oranges, radishes, sweet corn, tangerines, tomatoes

Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

For a great chart that outlines what’s in season in the Sunshine State, visit http://www.florida-agriculture.com/brochures/P-01332.pdf.

About the Author

Vanessa Caceres is an award-winning freelance journalist and editor. She writes about Florida travel, food, and culture for her blog http://floridaculture.wordpress.com and as a columnist for the Central Florida Agri-Leader newspaper. She began to write about Florida after moving to the state from the Washington, D.C., area in 2009. She also has a background in medical, business, and education writing. For more information or to talk about your writing and editing needs, email her at vcaceres28@gmail.com.