Today at Fresh Pickins Market in Lafayette was the Spring Food Festival. I'm already a fan of Fresh Pickins because of their focus on local produce and food products, because they're cheaper than larger grocery stores, and because they are simply a local business.
The Spring Food Festival featured samples from about 40 Louisiana vendors, all of whom regularly sell their products at Fresh Pickins. The samples included lots of seasonings and dips, lots of pepper jelly varieties, some grits, some soup, some bread and a bloody mary mix. Let's just say, lunch was provided in the form of samples today, and it was all delicious.
Music was provided by the Wild Rice Band, and there is no more appropriately named band for South Louisiana. There was also a drawing for free groceries from Fresh Pickins, and even if I don't win (which I WILL!), I have made the resolve to do as much of my grocery shopping here as I can. I really want to focus on shopping as locally exclusive as I can, and when it comes to food, our local food is the best. I'm biased, but I'm also right.
After we made our way through the vendors and samples, we walked around the rest of the market and I came across my favorite version of Cajun seasoning, simply based on the label. Dat Jake is my new hero.
Shopping locally and eating local food is so important to your area's economy and everyone's environment. It's much less resource-intensive if food only has to travel a few miles, compared to across the country or overseas. And the money you spend stays in your area instead of going elsewhere.
I'll feature the farm-to-table concept and farmer's markets in the near future, and it follows this concept of using the resources most available to you - anything that's in your immediate vicinity. If you can't grow your own food or raise your own animals for meats, look to your neighbors who do and support them.
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