My Kids Tour the West L.A. Farmer’s Market

I admit it: I can’t really remember the last time I went to a farmer’s market. We’re talking decades here folks. Even if I don’t know how long it’s been, I’m sure of one thing – I didn’t go of my own accord. That’s because shopping for food is my number one most hated chore. Honest.

But these days I’m responsible for coordinating the CSA program at my 5 year old’s school. In case you don’t know what that means (I didn’t until just a few month’s ago), CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I’m working to connect the parents at our school with organic produce brought directly to us by farmers in our community.

Between dreaming of my own garden and wanting to promote our school’s CSA program, I figured a trip to a farmer’s market was in order. What better way to introduce the kids to the idea of buying locally grown, organic produce than with a field trip?

WHAT WE DID
We visited the West L.A. Farmer’s Market, which is small but complete with all the essentials – from fresh fruits, veggies and cut flowers to natural honey and pastries. Although it’s touted as often having kid’s activities on hand, we didn’t encounter any during our visit (there was some live music).

We started our adventure by scoping out the entire market from one end to the other. My son grabbed a free flower, we sampled some amazing sweets and bought some fresh lemonade.

At one of the vegetable stands, I asked my oldest to walk around and tell me the names of the vegetables he saw (I picked an area with items I knew he was familiar with). He obliged but still didn’t seem that interested.

MAKING THE VEGGIE SELL
We sat down for a while enjoying our sweet treat and lemonade. I let the little one out of his stroller long enough for him to stretch his legs and stomp in some puddles. I thought about how I could get my kids more excited about being here.

And then I had an idea. I told my oldest he could buy one fruit and one vegetable of his choice. Suddenly, he was invigorated, excited and full of energy – he had a task! 

As we re-toured the market, we noticed that there were free samples of almost everything. The kids tried two different types of apples and devoured strawberries. It was as if everything just tasted better to them than it did on the table at home.

My son ultimately opted for the sourer of the two apples as his fruit of choice and grabbed a bunch of carrots as his vegetable.

He even wanted to make sure to pick some flowers just for me!

WHAT I LEARNED
Once I gave my son a task – pick one fruit and one vegetable that you want  to try – he was totally engaged.  He wanted to taste everything, tour all the stands and make sure he knew what his options were. He’d never do that in the grocery store.

We talked a lot about what we want to plant in our own garden (hint: food is our top priority). His fascination with the stems of the carrots lead to a conversation about plant roots and stems, and foods that grow in the ground versus foods that grow above ground.

I learned that my little 5 year old knows a lot about how fruits and vegetables grow already. And that he’ll be a fantastic helper in my gardening ventures.

One final note: As soon as we got home, my son grabbed a carrot and ate the entire thing – all the way down to the stem. He asked for another, but I figured I’d quit while I was ahead.