Every Sunday, you can stroll through the parking lot under the Jones Falls at the intersection of Gay and Saratoga Streets. However, the parking lot is not just an empty space from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. each Sunday; the vendors create a fresh food paradise. The Baltimore City Farmers’ Market is one of the biggest in the country and has vendors of every kind filling the spaces bright and early every week. Tons of people come out from all around the state just to get their groceries. What is it that makes it so special? Why come from a different part of the state to get some food that people claim to be “organic” and “farm fresh”?

There’s something about the awesome feeling you get when you buy a product from a local producer who worked so hard to create it. Whether it’s an egg farmer or the beekeepers who make honey, you know where your food came from, and with that, you feel confident. For instance, a local farm from Monkton produces and sells bison meat that has a lower fat content than beef, which shows the kind of great options you get at farmers’ markets. Furthermore, you know the person who gave you what you’re eating. When is the last time you knew who grew or made your food? By buying locally, you’re not only helping yourself, you’re helping the farmer and the economy. You keep the money in the United States where we can really use it, while the farmer gets to continue doing her or his job.

The short drive to get the food preserves nutrients in the food, so they’re fresher and taste much better. Along with the nutrients being saved with the short amount of time on the drive, you’re helping the environment by saving gas.

Usually the farmer makes a personal connection with each of his or her customers. You really cannot find that kind of service anywhere else today, and keeping that relationship is vital to the farmer. He or she lets you know where exactly your product came from and what happened to it-information you don’t get on a label on food imported from another country.

When you buy local, the most important thing to do is to get others to buy local to keep the beneficial chain going. By doing this, the buyer is helping the economy, his or her health, the environment and the lives of both the producer and the consumer.