If you have a garden of your own, you’re are no doubt enjoying its colourful bounty this time of year. If not, hopefully you’ve made it to a local farmers’ market and purchased some wonderful produce and other goods. As we come up to Thanksgiving and celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week we give thanks to our local farmers and gardeners who work growing food for our tables.

A visit to a local farmers’ market is an awesome experience. Everywhere you look, the produce, meat, cheese, eggs, baked goods and wares farmers and vendors bring is indicative of their hard work. They supply healthy food produced by their own hands and you get fresher produce than in the store.

As you walk around, vendors will happily speak with you, discussing their farming practices and how the food was produced. They will give you the best way to prepare and store the food too! On top of that, farmers’ markets offer a social time. You may run into a neighbour or someone you haven’t seen in a while. Farmers’ markets also produce an abundance of economic and social benefits to you and your community. (Please see the fact sheet below for all of those details.)

So, grab a locally roasted coffee and visit these local farmers’ markets running this fall for the best food around:

Stratford Farmers’ Market  or on Facebook

Woodstock Farmers’ Market (at the fairgrounds) or on Facebook

Downtown Woodstock Farmers Market 

St. Marys Farmers’ Market

Have you ever wondered how farmers’ markets benefit you the consumer as well as your community? Check out these fact sheets provided by Farmers’ Markets Ontario! They are full of great info:

Farmers’ Market Benefits for Communities 

Farmers’ Market Benefits for Consumers