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Visiting a local farmers market is the perfect half-day outing for babies and young children. Providing simple entertainment and learning for little ones, a farmers market abounds with colorful sights, enticing smells, interesting textures, and plenty of cheerful faces. Many markets feature live music, cooking demonstrations, free samples, face painting, dancers, jugglers, or other entertainment aside from the eye candy of fresh produce, baked goods, and beautiful flowers. When you shop at a farmers market with your family, arrive early for the best selection of fresh produce, and so your child is well rested and ready for an adventure. Walk around the market first to familiarize yourself with what's available that day. Wear your baby in a backpack or sling so she has the best view, although a stroller may come in handy later when purchases have been made. With that in mind, bring a couple of sturdy, reusable, canvas shopping bags, and buy your heaviest purchases last. Bring cash in small bills and change, as most farmers can't take checks or credit cards. (However, the Seattle markets do take food stamps and WIC coupons.) Give your child some change or a dollar bill and let her pick out a fresh, wholesome treat-maybe something to munch on while you walk along. As you explore the market, point out the fruits and vegetables in the farmers' stalls and call them by name: "Look at those big, rosy red apples." "Those blueberries look delicious. Shall we get some for a snack?" "This goat cheese is so creamy." "Smell the fresh herb bread." "I'd like to buy some yellow summer squash. Do you see some?" "Let's get some corn on the cob for dinner tonight! Can you count out enough ears of corn for our family?" Use the sights and smells of the market to teach colors, textures, characteristics, numbers, and the names of healthy foods you hope will become familiar to your family. Encourage your child to try a new food if the farmer offers a sample, and engage the farmer in a discussion about how and where his products are grown. This is where children can learn where food really comes from, and take part in choosing which fruits or vegetables they'd like to try. Having a choice and connecting wholesome, fresh food with a pleasant experience will do wonders to get your children to try healthy foods. When you shop at a farmers market, you're not only having a fun outing to an interesting place, you're supporting local family farms and boosting our region's economy. You're also helping to conserve resources by supporting food providers who aren't shipping their products over long distances, adding to air quality problems and increasing our dependence on foreign oil. And you're providing your family with nutritious foods close to their natural state, with little or no packaging or waste. Look for a farmers market in your neighborhood. Most good-sized communities have at least a weekly farmers market, and Seattle alone has six thriving markets , with a new market opening this year on Broadway on Capitol Hill. Click here for information on markets around the state. Some, like Olympia's Farmers Market and Seattle's Pike Place Market, are open year-round, but most community markets choose one day a week for their operation, and are open May to October. |
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