By Jenn DeRose
Know & Grown Manager
Missouri Coalition For The Environment
Every season, Known & Grown STL (a program of Missouri Coalition for the Environment) creates a Farmers Market guide to make finding food from local, sustainable farmers in our program easy.
In order for a market to be included in our guide, they must have at least one of our 53 farmers as a regular vendor. Additionally, we focus our guides on markets that prominently feature food from local farmers.
Farmers markets often include vendors that sell produce and meat sourced from around the country, and even from around the world! If a market looks like a grocery store, the food there is likely traveling hundreds of miles to wind up on your plate, whereas a locally-focused market will showcase the best of the season. Locally-focused markets will have an abundance of tomatoes in the summer, but very few (besides what can be grown in greenhouses) during the cooler months. Asparagus and leafy greens are prolific in the spring. Sweet potatoes and squashes dominate late summer and in the fall. Vegetables taste much better when they’re recently picked – once you eat a fresh tomato, you’ll have a hard time eating a lifeless one in January.
In addition to eating better tasting food, supporting markets that feature local farmers is a great way to strengthen our regional food system, encouraging growers who use environmentally responsible practices to continue their important work. These farmers nurture our soil, protect our watersheds, and fight climate change by sequestering carbon; they are the antithesis of and the antidote to resource-intensive industrial agriculture.
Known & Grown STL supports farmers within 150 miles of St. Louis who raise their animals on pasture, don’t use synthetic chemicals on their crops, and are good stewards of our shared environment. Visit our website at knownandgrownstl.org to learn more about each of the farmers in our program and their practices. Follow us on social media @knownandgrownstl to stay informed about food news and more.