Bruins are given a taste of something new when they choose to eat locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Nevada County Growers Market gives the Grass Valley community the opportunity to support local farms by hosting a farmers market every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Historic North Star House.
A multitude of Bruins of varying ages and lifestyles said that they enjoy eating home-grown food.
“I love eating locally,” said Sophomore Connor McGehee. “I have been to a few farmers markets in our area, [and] my favorite part is talking to the farmers about where my food is coming from and seeing who I am buying food from.”
In addition to the healthier results for students, Junior Catherine Desplancke mentioned the effect on the environment of eating green.
“I definitely like eating locally, although I don’t do it as often as I’d like too,” she said. “… It makes me feel better that it is closer to home, [because] I think it keeps less waste from being closer to home. Less waste is good for our environment and creates healthier habits for our area.”
Some Bruins said that they especially enjoyed helping fund our community.
“Eating locally… makes me feel like I am helping our local farmers and ranchers and helping our local economy grow,” said McGehee. “We don’t have very many areas where we live that make processed foods, so the food we do have is healthy. Eating locally helps the world around me because I am helping the small farmers, and people around me, rather than some huge farmer in China or some other country.”
Sophomore Helen Sands agreed, emphasizing that she thinks going to farmers markets is also an act of gratitude.
“I think it’s really important to support local farmers, and especially for someone like me who’s very involved in FFA,” said Sands. “Local farmers do a lot for us and support us in many ways so I think it’s really important to reciprocate that support. I think that the more we support the people around us the more we all get out of it.”
Sands said that her favorite part of eating locally is the relationships you build with the people in your community. Sophomore Sean Huska also mentioned an increased feeling of inclusion.
“It immerses people into their community,” he said.
Besides the factors of community and economy, students said that they enjoyed the overall experience.
“My favorite part about it was that everyone was really nice and the food was quite good,” said Desplancke.
Others also saw that supporting local farmers is important.
I think that it affects the world around us in a way that’s important to every community. Communities around the world have to support each other in order to thrive, not just ours.”
Some find the food made and grown with more sincerity.
“I like eating locally because the food tends to be made with more sincerity,” said Sophomore Geneva Hemmert. “Eating locally honestly just feels more like home.”
