For the grocery store, the best customer is the predictable customer. Since the store offers similar produce year-round, you can follow the same shopping list and trace the same path during every visit. Sandwich bread will always sit at the end of aisle two, and tomato sauce will always be next to the pasta. The everyday veggies (lettuce, onions, garlic, celery, broccoli, etc...) remain in their designated location with consistent and adequate flavor, except when the tomatoes taste like water and the carrots suffer from limp, dried ends. However, even when the produce is quite good, the selection lacks discovery. This shopping can make meals repetitive, and that is a sad situation when food possesses such exciting potential.
A visit to the farmers' market makes food new again. The variety of colors and flavors spark tired appetites. Even a simple apple becomes new again, as the subtle changes in size and texture appear. For the produce is picked with taste in mind, rather than durability. Instead of seeing the same vegetable every day, you anticipate the arrival of new items. Arugala and rhubarb in spring--artichoke and cauliflower in fall. The farmer tells you that the garlic chives only have one more week at most, so you must try them now. In fact, the entire year becomes more exciting, especially in a California city where the weather is so temperate and the seasons’ change so subtle. You can see and taste the seasons change on your plate.
Beyond providing variety for our meals, the farmers' market gives food an identity by connecting people to each other. Your shopping supports a farmer and a family, rather than just helping a supermarket chain’s bottom line. You become an active and caring part of your local community. Rather than a customer, you become a faithful friend who comes back to visit with a palate that traces the seasons.
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