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The Benefits Of Downsview Farmer's Market

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On Saturday, October 7th, 2017, I embarked on an adventure to explore Downsview Farmer’s Market and look into the products that are sold there. Growing up, my parents told me many stories of their regular visits to the market for food. Almost all food in Sri Lanka, is either grown locally or caught fresh at the local bays. They were raised surrounded by a variety of different agriculture, which helped feed the families of the towns, and bring in revenue. On the contrary, the choice of buying local or not, has never crossed my mind. The culture which I was raised in, is very different from that of the people who grew up in Sri Lanka. There, fresh and local food is what is in demand. This is because, in most cases that is all that is …show more content…

Deciding to look more into this, I asked a worker to show me any locally grown products available. The worker introduced me to the owner, who was able to tell me that most of the products sold were not local, but rather imported from other regions of Canada, some of the fruit even being imported from outside the country. Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a large variety of produce at the market labelled as “organic”, meaning that they were grown on farms which utilize agricultural measures deemed to be environmentally friendly. Previously, I wasn’t aware that pesticide-free or growth-hormone free product growth was a popular growth method. This is because I have always been informed about genetic modifications, or preservatives that were used to get the most out of crops or make them last longer.

In my opinion, I believe that most people tend to not buy “local” because it is of popular belief that these products are more expensive than the ones found in big box stores such as Fortinos, Food Basics, etc. Many people, including myself tend to believe that these products must cost more, because they are grown isolated, in smaller quantities, with more care, etc. Although, when comparing the prices at the farmers market, to those of local grocery stores, the prices tend to be quite similar

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