The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHERE TO FIND FRESH FOOD AT AREA FARMERS MARKETS
Seasonal farmers markets bring weekly supply of healthy food to town.
Early Saturday morning, March 18, Reynoldstown resident Erin Thoresen will be hard at work, setting up tents and tables, getting everything ready for the season opening of the Green Market at Piedmont Park.
It’s Thoresen’s third year of volunteering there. “When I moved to Atlanta, I wanted to get involved in groups that provide access to healthy food. I found out about the Green Market and I just keep going back. I love interacting with the visitors and talking with the vendors. It’s such a nice mix of people.”
The Green Market at Piedmont Park will be the first metro Atlanta seasonal farmers market to open in 2017.
Each spring and summer, farmers markets from Acworth to Chattahoochee Hills open for the season, joining year-round markets like the ones in Peachtree City and Marietta. The shoppers are all interested in fresh, healthy food and supporting farmers, bakers and cheese makers they’ve come to know personally.
On a chilly February morning at the year-round Peachtree City Farmers Market, there was a long line of customers waiting for a fix of Blue Donkey Coffee. John Conti of Fayetteville was carrying two reusable shopping bags he’d already filled with Brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggs, apples and broccoli. He was on his way to the booth of Whole Dog Market to pick up his weekly supply of dog treats.
“My wife and I come every Saturday. We shop here because everything is fresh and locally grown or made. I have cancer and we are paying more attention to what we eat. It’s all good stuff here, especially the eggs. They just taste better,” he said.
Sharpsburg resident Scott Carnegie and his wife, Judy, also had two reusable shopping bags in hand and were browsing the cheese selection at Capra Gia. Carnegie is an instructor in culinary arts at West Georgia Technical College. The couple are longtime supporters of the Peachtree City Farmers Market. “We come every week. We walk around the market and see what looks good, then plan our menus for the week based on that,” he said.
Last December, he and his class cooked a meal for Gov. Nathan Deal and 200 guests. “Everything was sourced from Georgia and most of it from the vendors here at the Peachtree City Market,” he said. And he’s purchased a whole hog from market vendor Happy Hogs of Double Hill Farms in Meriwether County to use for his charcuterie class.
Some seasonal markets are open only for the high season of summer. The Lilburn Farmers Market won’t open until June 2. But Trish Biemiller is happy to wait until then. “I love that the market has so many of the same vendors back every year. They remember us and we remember them and it’s lots of fun.”
And she appreciates the fact that the market reflects Lilburn. “You see people you know, enjoy the live music and pick up a dinner from a food truck. I really connect all that with summer and the Lilburn Farmers Market.”