Shopping Tips IT PAYS TO GET UP EARLY--Get to the Market when it opens to find the best selection and the freshest produce. BRING YOUR OWN BAG--Bring your own canvas shopping bag or basket from home. Brand-new canvas shopping bags are available for purchase at the Downtown Farmers Market. It's better than having all your items bagged separately. TRY SOMETHING NEW--Buy something you haven't tried before. The Downtown Farmers Market is the perfect place to get educated about food, if you make the effort. Never tried kohlrabi? A vendor can advise you on how to select and prepare it. BRING A COOLER--Put a cooler in your car to keep food items cool when you buy at the market but won't be going home until later on in the day. ASK QUESTIONS--Make sure to ask questions of the vendors when you see unfamiliar produce. Vendors and farmers love to share their knowledge and can even give you recipes and cooking tips. DRESS COMFORTABLY--Wear walking shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. The Downtown Farmers Market is open rain or shine, so dress accordingly. Recipes Learn how to prepare the meats, produce and herbs you buy at the Market by finding recipes at these websites: Sustainable Table: http://www.sustainabletable.com/kitchen/recipes/ Related Links Below you will find an assortment of links to provide assistance and education. Have fun browsing, and if you don't see a link that should be here send us a note. Sustainable Table: is a consumer campaign developed by the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE). It was launched to help fill in the gaps in the sustainable food movement, and to help direct consumers to the leading organizations who are working on the issue. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by all the problems surrounding our food supply, Sustainable Table celebrates the joy of food and eating.: www.sustainabletable.org Local Harvest: maintains a definitive and reliable "living" public nationwide directory of small farms, farmers markets, and other local food sources. Their search engine helps people find products from family farms, local sources of sustainably grown food, and encourages them to establish direct contact with small farms in their local area. Their online store helps small farms develop markets for some of their products beyond their local area.: http://www.localharvest.org Iowa Network for Community Agriculture (INCA) works with partners statewide to grow a new generation of growers and educates and promotes locally grown food: www.growINCA.org Practical Farmers of Iowa Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) is a non-profit, educational organization that began in 1985 and now has over 700 members in Iowa and neighboring states. Their mission is to research, develop and promote profitable, ecologically sound and community-enhancing approaches to agriculture. They carry out diverse programs to assist farmers with both production and marketing needs, to raise public awareness of where food comes from and how it is grown, and to educate youth about agriculture and the environment.: http://www.practicalfarmers.org Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Horticulture & Farmers' Market Bureau The Horticulture and Farmers' Market Bureau is responsible for implementing a number of programs designed to assist Iowans in the marketing and promotion of horticultural products. They also have programs to assist in the process of creating new farmers' markets, as well as the promotion of existing farmers' markets: http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/horticulture.htm Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining public spaces that build communities. They provide technical assistance, training, research and other services. Since their founding in 1975, they have worked in over 1,500 communities in the United States and around the world, helping people turn their public spaces into vital community places.: www.pps.org Market Glossary Organic: Organic farming relies on developing biological diversity in the field to disrupt habitat for pest organisms, and to maintain and replenish the soil. Organic farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. (CUESA) Certified Organic: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reponsible for the managing the National Organic Program, which was implemented in October 2002. Organic farming avoids the use of most artificial inputs, like synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and bans the use of animal by-products, antibiotics and sewage sludge among other practices. Any food product (except fish) using the word organic must be certified as such by an official USDA accredited certifier. (www.eco-labels.org) Hormone-Free: There is no government or official definition for this term except on meat and poultry products as defined by the US Department of Agriculture. Use of the term “hormone free” is considered “unapprovable” by USDA on any meat products. Meat and poultry products carrying the “no hormones administered” claim imply that the animal must not have received any added hormones during the course of its lifetime. Free-range: Free range (or free roaming) implies that a meat or poultry product comes from an animal that was raised in the open air or was free to roam. Its use on beef is unregulated and there is no standard definition of this term. The term "free range" is only regulated by the USDA for use on meat poultry products. USDA requires that birds have been given access to the outdoors but for an undetermined period each day. "Free range" claims on eggs are not regulated. To learn more about what is meant by this term, customers should ask the rancher about their specific practices. (CUESA) Free range (or free roaming) is a general claim that implies that a meat or poultry product, including eggs, comes from an animal that was raised in the open air or was free to roam. Its use on beef is unregulated and there is no standard definition of this term. Free range is regulated by the USDA for use on poultry only (not eggs) and USDA requires that birds have been given access to the outdoors but for an undetermined period each day. USDA considers five minutes of open-air access each day to be adequate for it to approve use of the free range claim on a poultry product. "Free range" claims on eggs are not regulated at all. To learn more about what is meant by this term, consumers must contact the manufacturer. (www.eco-labels.org) Heirloom: Heirloom varieties, also called farmers' varieties, traditional varieties or landraces, have been selected and developed by farmers through years of cultivation and seed saving for the next season. Farmers hand them down through generations. These varieties are often specifically suited to a certain climate and soil type, and have been selected for flavor, pest resistance, productivity, and even beauty. Heirlooms are typically very genetically diverse and variable.(CUESA) Transitional: Farmers need to practice organic methods for three years on a given piece of land before the products grown there can be certified organic. "Transitional" means that the farmland is in the midst of that transition period towards organic certification. (CUESA)