It's so much easier on Saturday mornings to stay under the warm covers with my cup of coffee and my newest book, but I have been trying my hardest to motivate and go to a farmers' market on Saturdays or at some point each week. I am making a point of doing this for the farmers. They have had an unusually rough season, and the most important thing we can do right now is to go to markets in the rain and support them.
This doesn't mean that you have to buy gads of produce that you don't want, but it does mean that you should give the small local farmers a chance. A chance to explain why prices are high, a chance to explain why their produce is looking a little bedraggled, a chance to tell you how the rain is affecting their farm.
The situation was best explained in the weekly newsletter produced by CUESA: "The anticipation that seasonal eaters feel in early spring has turned into more of an ache this year as farmers forecast smaller harvests on later dates for our favorite foods. But the ache we feel is trifling compared to the devastating losses for those whose livelihoods depend on California's fertile soil and sunshine. Storm after storm has discouraged pollinators, muddied fields and rotted flowers and berries; many farmers are struggling through the wettest season they've seen in at last twenty years."
How will this unusually wet season affect what's on our plates this year?