Winter Markets and Local Produce

A Share Organics box of fresh winter vegetables. Photo by Jason Bishop

The weather prognosticators are warning that we can expect a long cold winter. This brings to mind a foreboding image of barren fields, ice streaked roads, and grocery stores stocked with Chilean vegetables and California fruits. The end of autumn and summer produce would not be so intolerable, if the sweet taste of local tomatoes didn’t still linger on the tip of my tongue. Yet, this need not be the winter of our culinary discontent.

The summer Farmers’ Markets have passed, but this doesn’t require a return to large scale grocery stores and produce picked unripe thousands of miles away. The island’s exceptional farmers are continuing to farm beautiful produce that will be available to us throughout the winter. The Victoria Downtown Public Market Society is offering Saturday winter markets in Market Square twice a month through March. They will feature live music and more than twenty vendors, including  familiar faces like Haliburton Farms, Sun Trio Farm, and B-red Bakery. Embrace what they are growing and incorporate local leeks, chard, and kale into your winter diet.

If Saturday isn’t convenient for you, then Share Organics has a solution: organic and locally sourced produce that is a mere mouse click away from being delivered to your doorstep.  Their easily navigable website makes shopping simple and allows you to trace your produce back to its source. You can determine which of their produce boxes works best for you, browse their ever-expanding additional products, skip a week when you’re away, and check their recipe database for ideas on what to cook.  Share Organics are intent on fostering long term relationships with farmers and having a positive impact on our food security. Included in their most recent ‘Local Box’ were bunched carrots from Wyndlow Farms, Red Juri squash from Madrona Farm, bunched local turnips, leeks and pak choy from Saanich Organic, and salad mix from Dragonfly Farms.

In Vancouver the Winter Farmers Market  takes place Saturdays from November 5, 2011 – April 28, 2011. Times are  10am – 2pm each week (closed December 24 & 31). East Parking Lot of Nat Bailey Stadium – 30th & Ontario Street

Purchasing local throughout the winter allows our farmers the benefit of knowing that they can rely on income year round. This simple act helps each of us ensure the growth and sustainability of local produce. By continuing to buy and use local produce throughout the winter, we commit to the idea that we value the work local farmers are doing and the opportunity to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables. Most importantly, we ensure that our winter table will remain warm with deeply satisfying cuisine.

– By Jason Bishop

The website for the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society is: http://victoriapublicmarket.com/

And the website for Share Organics is: http://www.shareorganics.bc.ca/

Vancouver Winter Farmers Market