Leave the shopping to the market
Windmill Market Produce Club brings together Baldwin County
foods and local consumers
Friday, June 14, 2013
By Jill Clair Gentry Food editor people@gulfcoastnewspapers.com
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Amy Ramagosa of Fairhope and her son Burke pick up
their produce box at Windmill Market. Ramagosa says she loves teaching her son
about different kinds of vegetables and how farmers grow food for their family
to eat.
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WHAT: Windmill Market Produce Club
WHERE: Windmill Market, corner of Equality and Bancroft
streets in Fairhope
WHEN: Pickup is Mondays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Fairhope
and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Mobile
MORE INFO: Stop by Windmill Market, call 251-990-8883 or
email Maggie Lacey at maggie@windmillmarket.org.
Imagine: you don't have to go to the grocery store every
week. The fruits and vegetables you feed your family tonight were harvested
earlier today. You're trying vegetables you never would have bought at the
grocery store and discovering you love them. You save money on food and are
eating more healthful meals.
This might sound idyllic, but it's is a picture of a
real-life program available here in Baldwin County — Windmill Market's Produce
Club.
Every Monday for the past two years, dozens of people have
flocked to the market to pick up a box of fresh and seasonal fruits and
vegetables, dairy, bread, meats and specialty items like granola, soap or
coffee.
“It's a ready-made meal plan for the week,” says Maggie
Lacey, manager of the Windmill Market. “You've got it all packed up and ready
to go, and you've got recipes to get you started.”
And every item is grown or made locally.
“It's as fresh as produce gets,” Lacey says. “We talk to the
farmers all week long. Sunday nights, they tell us what they've got, and they
harvest Monday morning. There's almost nowhere you can go to get produce that
fresh.”
Lacey says about 90 percent of the vegetables come from
Baldwin County, but for some items, they work with farmers in south
Mississippi, Georgia or Florida.
