April 12, 2012

Today in class we watched a video on a Farmers Market that was started up in county in South Carolina. In this county people have some major health concerns like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. People in this area also live in a food desert. If you had never heard of that saying like I had then you probably do not know what it means. A food desert is an area where there is not a major grocery store within a certain distance. A lot of us probably live in a food desert and don't even know it. For people that live in an area that is not close to a major grocery store and they don't have any transportation to get them to a grocery store then this becomes a major problem. Because this area in South Carolina was like this they came up with an idea to have a Farmers Market that would help both the individuals living in the food desert and the farmers in that area. So now this area has a huge Farmers Market every Friday that is right outside a free clinic so that people are able to go to their doctors apt and then get their fresh produce as well. This Farmers Market is then allowing people to get the fresh produce to help their health and it is helping their economy by keeping the money close to home. I think this was a great way to help people get their produce and I love the fact that people are using Farmers Markets more again, I think they are fun and it is a great way to learn about new foods!