This week's artcle was written by Valiant Vetter, chair of the Winnsboro Farmers' Market board pictured below.

We’ve all heard the term “Buy Local” many times and we certainly want to encourage you to do that – or keep doing it. One of the most important reasons for this is to keep your dollars in the community where they can circulate and enhance Winnsboro’s economy. What you may not have heard before is “Grow Local” – which is what your Winnsboro Farmers’ Market vendors do every day. In addition to keeping the money in our community, there are several other important reasons why “Growing Local” is important. One of these reasons is transportation – how far your food travels from where it is grown or raised – to get to your dinner plate. It takes a lot less fuel to get an egg from a local farmer than to get one from a distant farmer as well as all the stops that egg makes between the chicken and your omelet. Another factor is the infamous “middleman” – the consolidator, shipper, broker, wholesaler and retailer that all add to the cost of getting a product from A to B. Cutting out the middle man saves time as well as money – and helps the farmer by not having to share the cost of the product with a dozen other companies. This helps our local growers stay profitable. Time is another huge reason to buy locally-grown foods – it’s fresher. The carrots you buy Saturday morning probably were still in the ground Friday morning – possibly just a few hours before you buy it. Our farmers pick just before they bring their harvests to the market. This means you get fresher, healthier, more nutritious food. The sweetest sweet corn is the ear you pick after you have the water boiling! Many foods start to lose some of their vitamins and minerals as soon as are picked. Buying fresher produce reduces this loss to a minimum. Growing local also means that in the event of transportation problems or some kind of unforeseen fuel shortage – there will be local food available to sustain Winnsboro. The more local growers we support, the more secure Winnsboro’s food supply will be. This could become even more important in the event of a breakdown in our transportation system – such as a fuel shortage or trucking strike.

Of course, in this day and age of “GMOs” (Genetically Modified Organisms) and increasingly toxic pesticides, people have to be even more careful than before. “GMOs” in this case are food plants that have the DNA or “genes” from completely unrelated species artificially inserted into them. In the case of GMO corn, the DNA from bacteria is inserted into the corn DNA. This does not happen in nature. With 88% of the corn grown in the USA being genetically modified, it’s almost certain that unless you are buying from a farmer who uses non-GMO seeds, that the corn you buy will contain GMOs even if it is not a genetically modified variety. This is because pollen from GMO cornfields can drift to neighboring non-GMO fields and contaminate the corn growing there. Though the evidence is still coming in, doctors and scientists are discovering connections between GMO foods and allergies, tumors, and many digestive problems including “Leaky Gut Syndrome”. Until GMOs are thoroughly tested and proven to be safe – or – taken off the market, avoiding this possible risk is the most prudent thing a concerned shopper can do. Many European countries have already banned GMO crops and rejected imports from the US growers of these crops. When you buy directly from the farmer who grew the corn, you can ask them what kind of seeds he uses – or if he is near any commercial cornfields – and we do encourage you to ask! You can also ask your farmer what kind of fertilizers and pesticides he uses. Many of the growers at Winnsboro Farmers’ Market use minimal pesticides or no pesticides at all. They grow food for their own families and you can benefit from their care and concern they have for their own health. This is a huge benefit of buying local from someone you can talk to directly. That’s just not possible when you buy produce that has travelled over 1,500 miles to get to your plate and been handled by dozens of unknown people in the process.

Shopping at the Winnsboro Farmers’ Market doesn’t just benefit you and our farmers; it benefits our downtown businesses as well. Stopping in for a morning cup of coffee, taking a lunch break, or taking your friends to visit one of Winnsboro’s many boutiques or unique shops help to keep these businesses profitable and vital as well. We’re happy that our Market brings shoppers and tourists to our downtown area and makes Saturday mornings look festive and alive. Small businesses across the country are going through hard economic times and only by patronizing these businesses can we keep Winnsboro’s small businesses healthy. Remember: in Texas, healthy local businesses help keep your property taxes low!

The Winnsboro Farmers’ Market Advisory Board thanks all of our shoppers and vendors for a great 2014 season and inaugural “Winter Market” that was very successful. We would also like to thank the City of Winnsboro, our Mayor and City Council, Winnsboro Economic Development Corporation, City Administrator, City Secretary & City Staff for their outstanding support of the Market. Last but certainly not least, many thanks to our Main Street Manager for her efforts to keep our downtown vital. We hope all of the Market’s shoppers will participate in the “Our Town First” programs and activities as well.

Come visit us at the Winnsboro Farmers’ Market on Market Street between Broadway and Elm starting this Saturday – April 4th from 8am ‘til noon. We encourage you to chat with our growers and producers when you visit the Winnsboro Farmers’ Market!