 At least three times every day, you pick up your fork and fuel your body with food. But do you really know where those meals are coming from?
Grocery store purchases can come from hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles away, sometimes from other countries and sometimes from even the other side of the globe. Often this food has been produced by large, profit-driven corporations and processed with chemicals and preservatives.
In Virginia, there are approximately 47,600 farmers (down from 95,200 in 1960), an occupation that, despite being vital to our survival, is being squeezed out by larger industrial producers. It is a sad truth that most of these farmers are in debt and struggling under the pressure.
To assist these local growers, the Five Points Community Farm Market at MacArthur Center was established in 2006. Unlike some other farmers markets, where the farmers themselves set up stands and sell their goods, the market managers have worked with the farms to collect, price and sell the produce. This allows the farmers to spend more of their time doing what they do best growing fresh, delicious and healthy food.
Sure, because we're dedicated to locally grown produce, you may not be able to find bananas or pineapples at our market. But you will get to taste the ripest (and sometimes ugliest) succulent tomatoes or bite into a deliciously juicy peach that just hours before was dangling from a tree. Say goodbye to pretty but flavorless fruits and vegetables.
At the Farm Market, everyone wins. While you enjoy preparing a salad of fresh heirloom greens or a simple saut of from-the-earth zucchini and garlic, your fellow Virginians who carefully grew your dinner will be earning a well-deserved return. Also, the people behind the market have helped with projects such as Norview High School's Edible Schoolyard project, where at-risk high schoolers learn to organic garden. The produce these students harvested has been sold at the Five Points Community Farm Market .
We hope you'll enjoy your stroll through the market. Not only is this a place to buy local produce and products but it is also a place to learn more about foods and farming and to discover the wonderful products Virginia has to offer and learn more about our environment.
And please, ask questions. If there's a product you'd like to see, ask and we'll try and find it. Need a recipe? We'll help you with ways to prepare our products, too. The market is here to serve as a bridge between you and the farmers who grow our food. We welcome you with open arms and hope you greet us in return with open minds and hungry bellies!
|
About Us
