I frackin' LOVE my famer's market... page

[Drumroll]

Ah farmers... Talk about people who live life primally. Too bad the same can't always be said about their diets.

I love hearing the random conversations going on in the background as I avail myself of fresh, local, veggies, meats, dairy, and peruse the tea from our local suppliers.

Random things I learned today at the farmer's market:

"From an economic standpoint, farmers have no incentive to stop global warming. I mean we still have kale that's up to our knees! IN SEPTEMBER! It's insane! Stuff should have died out during the first week of August."

"I'm for Obama. He has more pro-local produce policies."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man... That cheese is like... Redonckulously good. I gotta have it man!"

"We source our coffee from fair trade sources in Honduras only, and we produce a variety of roasts ranging from a very dark french to an extremely light blonde roast. We're even considering experimenting with the viability of green coffee beans for brewing, but don't look for that anytime soon."

"If you like a more light, mellow and crisp black tea, may I recommend these wonderful Ceylon black leaves? They don't have the deeper chocolaty notes of many other blacks. Instead you're hit with a burst of caramel flavor. Many people say they prefer the sweeter taste of this tea, even when it's unsweetened."

"Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games. We've got everything you want, and honey we know the names."

"Honey, did you leave the stove on?" "Oh crap..."

"No honey, we don't touch dogs. We don't know if he's had all of his shots yet."

"We're getting ready for our butternut squash to come in. I can't wait. You can make a killer butternut mash dish with those things that will defeat mashed potatoes in an mash-off ever."

"You woke up at 8:30 AM? Congratulations! I've been up since 4:30 AM so I could make sure this wonderful produce was brought to you."

I love walking around and just observing the interesting folks you find at the market.

[Paleobird]

San Diego is a very ethnically diverse place and so we have a lot of international flavors at the Farmers Markets. There is one delightful old Moroccan gentleman that sells the best spice blends, olive oils, homemade halal lamb sausages, etc. There is the lovely African lady who sells shea butter skin products that she makes herself with no artificial additives. There is the hippie dude with the Edible Alchemy booth that sells all kinds of fermented veggies and kombucha. There is the surfer dude fisherman who sells sashimi grade fish (oh, yumminess). I found a place run by an Egyptian mother and son that does gyro sandwiches but will sell you just the gyro meat by the pound and they claim it is all grass fed sourced and they only use olive oil. You could have a whole meal just walking along getting free samples. The problem with that is that everything is so good you want to buy it all.

[sbhikes]

Tell me about it. I think I spent $50 on Saturday and I only popped in for a couple things. $12 goat cheese? Yes, I bought it. As for diversity or whatever, our farmers aren't quite as diverse as the musicians. Last time I went there was this guy who looked like he had been homeless most of his life and an alcoholic, too, but man I have NEVER heard anybody play the harmonica like that. He really had the blues, for sure. I gave him some money. We get all kinds of musicians, even cellos, Irish fiddlers, rock, mariachi, some guy with a lute. Once there was this big black dude with dreadlocks. You wouldn't give him a second look walking down the street, he looked like some random guy in shorts and flip-flops. Then he started singing. Holy crap! Everybody stopped shopping and turned to look. He sang opera and had the most amazing voice you ever heard. A crowd gathered around him. People were moved to tears. It was amazing.

[oxide]

Personally, I don't like dogs at the market. I get the impression that people are there to show off the dog more than to buy produce -- yo, would you take your dog to the grocery store??? I've seen tangled leashes, dog fights, and dogs gunning after the produce. A couple of markets deep in the city had to ban dogs altogether.

Obama has pro-local produce policies?

I feel a little guilty buying all this elitist food while others can afford only SAD crap. Oh well, I guess I'm supporting small business...