Buying From a Farmers Market

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Yesterday my husband and I took our two kids to the Eastern Market in downtown Detroit.  I had never been before, but had always heard about it and knew A LOT of people went there each week.  So we went.

The first thing I noticed was that it didn’t seem to be in the greatest area of Detroit…but then again, there really are few “great” areas these days.  And what a shame that is.  If Detroit could get fixed up, not only would it be a beautiful city, but I think it could be a huge piece in helping to turn around Michigan’s crappy economy.  The first thing my kids noticed…the homeless man on the side of a building yelling obscenities at people for not giving him a penny…

Nice.  Of course my kids asked what f-ing pennies are.  Why wouldn’t they?  They probably thought it was another kind of money and they love money!  Way to go homeless dude.

© alisonhancock – Fotolia.com

So back to the market.  I really liked it.  There were a bunch of stands set up and people were selling all their homegrown goods.  We bought tomatoes, red peppers, corn on the cob, strawberries, spicy pickle relish and a to die for hummus.  We picked all really good fruits and veggies, however you had to watch and pay attention.  There was one stand that pretty much EVERYTHING had mold on it.  They were still trying to sell it.  They were actually telling people to just “wipe the mold off”.  Blech.  Maybe that’s what they do on their farm, but I can’t do that.

Would I go back?  Sure.  But definitely not every week like some people do.  There are several other Farmers Markets closer to me that I wouldn’t mind checking out.  And they are in better areas than downtown Detroit.  I don’t care if my children see bums in Detroit, but I didn’t appreciate them having obscenities yelled at them for not giving the guy a penny.