One of my New Year’s Resolutions (that truthfully began last year, and I’m only just now making good on the plan) is to try to cook more.  While frozen concoctions from Trader Joe’s are still delightful to me, I feel as though part of being an adult is attempting dinners that do not contain microwave instructions.  To that end, I have joined a delightful group of women in a cook book Book Club.  We’re reading novels that are part novel, part cook book.  The first pick was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  You can find out more about the recipes online, but I also recommend reading the entire book.  It’s been a fascinating look at how many of the foods we eat come from places (and in ways) we don’t even want to imagine.   Plus, Kingsolver offers such a persuasive argument about how we can limit the amount of oil consumption in our country simply by limiting the amount of out-of-season and mass-produced goods we buy each week.

Having been frightened by the detailed look at turkey production I learned of in the most recently read chapter, I endeavored to include in my weekend plans a visit to a winter farmers market.  Who knew that Ohio actually offered such a delightful option in the middle of a frosty winter?  Several farmers were present with fresh, local, and delicious options.  While I’m not ready to be exactly like Kingsolver and make my entire diet centered on local food YET, I was able to find some delicious Fuji apples (I presume they were frozen for the winter season), fresh alfalfa sprouts, and some delicious hydroponic tomatoes.  The market was full of people who really wanted to talk about their cheese, the meat from their farm, or other products that were hand-developed.  Seeing all the farmers’ smiling faces made me realize how rare it is to look someone in the eye at a usual grocery store.  It felt good to support their efforts and walk out with bags full of food that was really fresh.

I think people often fear that locally grown products will be so much more expensive, but I was shocked at how cheap this amazingly good-and-good-for-you stuff was.  I rarely carry cash and had only budgeted enough for food, but wanted to buy some homemade lotion, too.  It was only $7.00, but I decided to save that for another week.  The farmers market is definitely a place to return to.  I figure if I can even skip a few things a week that might otherwise come from a big chain store, and exchange those items for delicious, local goods, I can help support the farms that Ohio was built on.  After all, we can’t really call this place cow town if we don’t keep some of those cows around.