The One Fruit That's Always Worth Buying At A Farmers Market

Fruit at the farmers market is always enticing, but it's not always easy to figure out which options are worth choosing. We all like the idea of shopping locally at farmers markets and enjoying fresh fruit that isn't produced by corporate suppliers, but the reality isn't always as perfect as we imagine. To find out what fruits really are worth the farmers market premium we asked Megan McCarthy, the edible garden chef at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, who is also the founder of Healthy Eating 101 and a Have A Plant. 

"Without hesitation, berries, especially blueberries," she says. "They have a short window between perfectly ripe and overripe, and local growers can harvest them at peak flavor because they don't have to travel for days through shipping." According to her, you will really notice the difference between local berries and those from the supermarket, because they have a shorter time between when they are picked and when you buy them, "which means they retain more of their natural sweetness, texture, and fragrance." Beyond the time when they are picked, farmers market blueberries are also far more likely to be in-season than what you get at the store, so you are getting the best version of the fruit.

The reason why local berries are so much better at farmers markets is because large-scale distributors rely on a rotating series of growing regions to make sure berries are available nationwide year round. So when berries are out of season in your area they may be coming from Georgia, Washington, Mexico, or Peru. That means they've most likely been harvested before being ripe, and have been on the shelf and in shipment for days before you bought them.

We also asked McCarthy for her favorite ways to use these berries. "One of my favorite ways to enjoy blueberries is simply tossed into a salad with fresh basil, creamy goat cheese, toasted pecans, and a light lemon vinaigrette," she says. "Blueberries are also fantastic in overnight coconut chia pudding, or I may freeze them for smoothies, but the freshest berries rarely make it that far — I put them in my yogurt in the a.m. and snack on them throughout the day."  

There are a few other types of produce that really stand out at summer farmers markets. Tomatoes are the other classic example, for much the same reason that farmers market berries are so much better, as supermarkets prize durability over taste, and pick tomatoes long before they ripen so they can be shipped around the country. Ditto stone fruits like peaches and plums, which will be much sweeter than what you're used to.