In many cultures, the local farmers market is not only the backbone of the community; it may well be the only place to buy what you need.

Of course, where we live there are many convenient ways to obtain the necessities of life. But for me, farmers markets still have a calling that is hard to resist. They bring to mind a simpler time and do so much to add to the economy and the fabric of our community.

For one thing, you’ll most likely be supporting a small local family farm, one that’s often worked and managed by the folks selling the produce you’re looking to buy. Despite today’s mega-farm operations, these small, family owned farms still represent an overwhelming large percentage of American farms. It gives these farmers direct access to you, and gives you direct access to locally grown, farm-fresh produce.

Chris Kell of the Tillamook Farmer’s Market can attest to that. “We have locals that farm as supplemental income but we also have a few who rely on farming for their living,” Kell says, “so the market is very important to them.”

And, as a nice side benefit, you often get the chance to interact with the farmer who grew the very food you intend to buy. I’ve met some very interesting people this way and learned a great deal about what I eat.

Cyndi Mudge of the Astoria Sunday Market knows the importance of fresh food to her community. “Local people really look forward to being able to buy local fresh produce, it definitely tastes better,” she says. “You know where it comes from and who grew it.”

Farmers’ Markets also offer the opportunity to simply eat better quality food and develop wholesome eating habits. The fruits and vegetables grown locally are often picked when perfectly ripened, at the peak of their nutritional value. We have become accustomed to buying fruit elsewhere that is often not ripe when picked, or forced to ripen. We tend to forget, or at least miss, the true taste of the food we eat. Picking produce when perfectly ripe enhances the taste, texture, and aroma of the raw foods we eat and the cooked dishes made from them. You might even find yourself harkening back to a time when you ate a tomato that smelled and tasted like a tomato!

An unfortunate fact in our modern food distribution system is that, before reaching your table, the average food item in the United States will travel 1,300 miles. Surprisingly, a mere 10 percent of the fossil fuel energy used in the world’s food system is used for production. The remaining 90 percent goes into packaging, transportation, and marketing. It’s not necessary to explain the havoc caused to our climate from that fact.

So, when you buy locally, you are playing a valuable part in reducing the enormous amounts of energy and resources dedicated to moving food from the field to your plate.

Another plus is that food bought at a Farmers’ Market is often cheaper than alternative edibles. But even if the cost is the same, or even a bit higher, it directly benefits the local farmer rather than a series of brokers, distributors, and re-sellers — and you get a better, fresher product.

In addition, when you buy locally, the money stays local. It’s often then spent locally again boosting the economy of the community in which you live. In the case of the Astoria Sunday Market, that fact has had a huge impact.

“The market was really [created] to vitalize the downtown core,” explained Mudge. “We had a lot of empty storefronts, and shops were not open on Sundays. We started with 30 booths and now there are 200 and more shops are open on Sunday. It’s a place for locals and tourists alike and it has been very successful in bringing business downtown. Any money we have left over goes to community projects like bikes for the police, street paving, or local non profits, it has had a huge impact.”

One more plus, especially for coastal towns, is that the market draws in tourist trade, which Kell thinks that has been especially good for Tillamook during these hard times.

“Eighteen hundred people come to our Saturday market each week, some 60 percent are tourists,” Kell said. “They stop and visit downtown, that’s huge for us.”

Moreover, as Kell points out, that can have a big impact on the future. “We have a couple of business in town which are the best in the state. We send people from our markets to those businesses and they discover them, and come back to Tillamook later just to visit those businesses. The market has brought life to the downtown core, 16 weekends a year, something is happening downtown.”

Let’s see. The food is fresher, tastes better, saves energy, and helps the local economy, what’s not to like here?

While all these benefits offer tangible proof of the value of a farmers market, an intangible factor makes them worthwhile for me. I love the mix of people, the coming together of the community, the simple enjoyment of handling fresh food, the smells, sounds, and colors of the market. There is a congenial atmosphere; everyone just seems more joyful and alive.

An interesting side benefit, especially in these times, is that the markets offer a place for small businesses to get started, a place to test products. Many a business booth at a market has made a transition to become a bricks-and-mortar shop in town. Farmers markets encourage small business growth and give entrepreneurs a place to get started.

Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine.” That sums up a farmers market: food for the stomach and food for the soul, the medicine of life.