By Rina Gill
SURREY – Last Wednesday, I visited the Surrey Urban Farmers Market near the North Surrey Rec Centre and Surrey Central Skytrain station. It was great to see local farmers and businesses out there selling their produce. There was a steady crowd coming through while I was there; however, I would definitely like to see more people coming out to support the market. It runs every Wednesday afternoon from 1pm to 6pm until the end of September – so there is still time to take advantage of the fresh, delicious options available to us!
In 2009, I sat on the Board of Directors for the Surrey Urban Farmers Market along with fellow SCC candidate Grant Rice (who continues to sit on the Board). Although I’ve always been an advocate of buying produce locally, I haven’t always been as good at putting it into practise. Hectic work schedules and a busy lifestyle seem to take precedence over researching where the produce comes from or how fresh it is, if the produce looked half decent and the price was right, I just bought it!
Being on the Board encouraged me to strongly believe in buying locally for many reasons.
As a community, we should be buying locally grown produce because it helps the local farmers stay in business and, more importantly, buying locally is actually healthier! Transporting or importing produce often takes days or even weeks to reach our local grocery stores, so we are not buying the freshest produce possible and nutrients are lost in the travel. There is such a wide range of products available at the Farmers Market, you can get your week’s supply of bread, veggies, fruits, snacks and delicious sweets, as well as organic/natural products from soaps to clothing and even jewellery! The options are endless.
Being exposed to the Farmers Market has been enlightening and has even allowed me to learn more about the 100 Mile Diet. For now, I encourage all the citizens out there to take a few minutes out of their busy schedules on a Wednesday afternoon and visit the Surrey Urban Farmers Market. Not only will you have access to fresh produce and natural home-made products, but you will also have a chance to pick up some helpful information from the Farm Fresh Guide which has a listing of all the local farms and a calendar for seasonal produce. For more information on Surrey Urban Farmers Market, visit: www.surreymarket.org
If I am elected a Surrey City Councillor on November 19th, I will continue to support organizations like the Surrey Urban Farmers Market and encourage the community to support local farmers and businesses.
Rina Gill is the SCC Candidate for Surrey City Council and can be reached at [email protected].
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