Beet-Lemonade

Des Moine Farmer’s Market

Delicious Raw Vegan Tacos

I was super excited about today’s schedule because unlike the biodiesel and pork association my mind can easily engage with Farmer’s markets and the living history farm exhibit. When I first envisioned what the farmers market would be like I imagined an idyllic scene of roads lined by friendly farmers selling fresh produce and other products from their family farm. I was only half wrong. There were many Iowans selling their farms freshly harvested asparagus, which is apparently one of the only things in season right now. I found most interesting how nettles, a plant that seems very unfriendly due to its poisonous and stinging leaves, has been utilized by Iowans due to its growing in abundance. I talked to one man who was selling nettles he had picked who let me sample nettle tea. The most infamous example of the opposite of my expectations for the farmer’s market are the store bought Georgia blueberries one vendor was selling. Since I find it hard to resist blueberries I purchased them without asking the right questions only to find out later that they were repackaged store-bought blueberries from Georgia. I found it interesting that it could not be assumed that everything being sold there was genuinely local, and the store-bought detail made it seem especially deceptive. I still feel like I redeemed this experience by purchasing some radishes from a man’s Iowa Greenhouse and another woman’s grandmothers jam.

The highlight of my farmers market experience was by far the raw vegan tacos. I was perplexed at how the “meat” of the tacos was made from walnuts and sunflower seeds. And I was impressed by the “cheese” that was replaced by a “cashew cream” which was surprisingly cheese-like, add avocados, sun-dried tomatoes, and a romaine taco shell and you have me eager to make them myself. I was also excited about the barbecue spice pack I bought which I am going to use to make red potato barbeque fries sometime this week. This experience has just made me really eager to go to farmers markets every weekend I can when I get back to Greenville. I was never really concerned about the quality or safety of the foods being sold at the farmer’s market but the blueberry incident has taught me an important lesson. I now know that in the future I need to be more intentional about talking to farmers and learning where their products came from.