By Jack Carley

The Farmers’ Market,open at 7 a.m. every Saturday through Dec. 23, iis a great place to find organic fruits and vegetables and other local products. Photos by Jack Carley

1. Jelly and jam
Nothing beats a PB&J or toast with homemade jelly. Delicious. Visit
the Jam Mam, also known on alternate weeks as the Marmalady. Pick up some bread to spread it on while you’re there. You can thank me later.

2. The local food In this era of industrial food production and globalization, food can travel more than 2,000 miles from production to your table. At the Carrboro market, you can’t even get food that is produced farther than 50 miles from Carrboro, and most of it is closer.
This is a good thing, as food does not have to be frozen, flown, shipped, thawed, preserved, and all of that other industrial junk that vegetables don’t deserve.

3. Getting up early, it’s not so bad
If you’re like me and you’re a college student, then the prospect of
getting up early on a Saturday is a daunting one. If you go late, you’ll miss the best stuff, but the food is still worth it. And even better, you can get the good stuff later because for the rest of the season, the market, which usually opens at 7 a.m., will open at 8, according to John Soehner, a Famers’ Market board member. The vendors will pack up and leave at noon, so give yourself some time to browse.
The market opens each Saturday through Christmas, which means the last day is December 23. Make plans to have an early Friday night somewhere along the line. The market doesn’t reopen again until March, so time is running out.

4. Local organic
If you buy food with a label that says Organic, what that means is that
the farming practices used conform to standards set by the Department of Agriculture.
The cost associated with this label, in time and money ($900 per year), can
be restrictive to small farmers. But small farmers without this
certification may use more organic techniques than larger, industrial
producers. So even if they can’t say it’s organic, it may be, and even
moreso than the supermarket.
But remember to ask the vendor about the farming method. And be as specific as possible. Ask if the vendor uses organic pesticides, sprays, and organic practices in general. Cindy Soehner of Eco Farm, an uncertified farmer who has been selling at the market for about nine years and boasts the label “Morganic,” said, “We feel we’re more organic than the big corporations.”

5. National example
Carrboro’s Farmer’s Market is a national example. They get calls all
the time from other places wanting to start their own market. It’s one of the best, if not the best, of its kind in the nation.
Representatives from the market recently traveled as far as Turin,
Italy with all kinds of agricultural experts to visit the international “Terra Madre” (”Mother Earth”) conference on sustainable food production.
It is definitely not the Mall of America. It’s one of a kind, it’s
extremely local, and it’s yours! Use it!

6. No fake stuff
My mom told me that she doesn’t trust farmers’ markets because she
thinks that some of the food is not really grown by the vendors. Not
here. According to Ken Dawson, owner of Maple Spring Gardens and board member of the market for 19 years, they take it seriously and any imposters get the big boot.
The market’s board of directors conducts random inspections as well as special inspections if they have a reason. John Soehner explained, “If something seems fishy we go and inspect.”

7. North Carolina morning
Carolina blue skies, a chill to the air, and a blush in your cheeks. If
you live in Carrboro, why not take a walk to the market? And once
you’re there, it’s a familiarity like no other. I kept overhearing
things like, “Say hi to Joe for me,” and, “The first time I saw you was
1969.” Talk to the vendors, see your friends, and get some great food.
And even if it’s raining, they have a cover - for most of it, anyway.
But bring a coat, it can get chilly. And if you can, bring your own
shopping bag. No sense in wasting paper!

8. Eat healthy
Shopper Marty Fitzpatrick told me, “I like meats, fat, and salts,” as he was
keeping his wife Karin company at the market in their third year of
attending. She was shopping for vegetables. He conceded, “She makes good food.” For her part, she said of the market, “I love it. I’m out here every weekend.”
So mix up the meat with a salad from time to time. Fresh veggies! And
if you don’t do veggies, you can also buy some healthy meats, such as
whey-fed pork, at the market.

9. Just a tip
Foods in season right now include squash, onions, pumpkins, root
plants, and sweet potatoes. Also popular at the Farmer’s Market are a
variety of Asian greens. And if you are looking for spinach without E.
Coli, it’s here.

10. Support local agriculture
Local agriculture has a lot of advantages. It’s fresh, it’s grown by
people you can actually speak to, and it strengthens your community. I know that
Carrboro already knows this, because I see bumper stickers - and even better, stickers on bikes - that advocate local food. Carrboro, keep up the good work and eat local food!
In the Spring, there is a farm tour, and for about $20, you can tour
the farms that produce for the market. If you have an interest in
agricultural production and techniques for sustainability, check it out!
More info @ http://www.carrborofarmersmarket.com