The Family Goes to the Farmer's Market

I believe in supporting our local economy, and more than anything I believe in consuming food that is grown responsibly. I have been shopping organically whenever possible for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, that I truly understood the importance of eating local food. I have since lent Kingsolver's book to countless friends and family members and I have even taught the book to a group of Seniors in my English class. I can't say I converted the whole lot of them, but I affected quite a few, which felt like success to me!
So, I certainly want my sons to know where their food comes from and, even more importantly, know why it is so important to know where your food comes from! With this in mind we take an almost weekly trek to one of the many local farmer's markets. We live in an area that can boast quite a number of farmer's markets, and an amazing array of local food. As you can imagine, however, a trek anywhere with two month old twins and a three year old is an adventure!
We took this trek for the first time when the twins were two weeks old. It was my first adventure outside of the house after four months of bed rest and two weeks of recovering from child birth. I was nervous, but I had been lying in bed for months imagining what might be at the market this week that I was missing out on, so I really wanted to go.
Today's trip was a lot easier than that first one. We are becoming old pros at traveling with our brood! It all starts with loading us all into the van:

Kyan even snapped a picture of Ben getting things in the back of the van. The picture is actually quite nice...a budding photographer?

Once we were on our way things were great...until we parked the van and I got Ronan out of his car seat only to realize that he was sitting in a pool of poo...yep, a blow out! Luckily our van is an amazing vehicle that is MADE for us! So, I popped up the (changing) table and began damage control:

Now this is not exactly what the makers of the Eurovan had in mind when they designed this fabulous little table. More likely they imagined quaint campers sipping hot cocoa with their camp lanterns on their heads and playing cards, but we are a creative family and we have made this van our own!
While I changed Ronan's diaper Kyan was playing in the stroller:

Finally, Ronan was clean and we were on our way to meet our neighbors Lindsey and Quinn. Once we found them Lindsey and I were in desperate need of food, she being pregnant, and myself being a nursing mother of two. So we left Kyan and Quinn with Ben and went off with the twins to find food! While we were gone the kids had a great time dancing to the music and exploring the park with Ben:

When Lindsey and I returned we had done a quick but thorough job at procuring a healthy and delicious lunch (and then some):

After lunch we were on our way to buy veggies and other delights for the week ahead. In theory this is the part where I would talk to Kyan about the farmers and their hard work to bring us the food that keeps us healthy and strong, and in truth, before the twins came along I managed to do this now and then. The reality now, however, is that there is so much going on keeping the kids in check and pushing my Hummer of a stroller through the throngs of people, that I am literally running in and out of stalls and I am lucky if I manage to get out of there with ANY vegetables at all. I suppose I'll save the farmer talk for the dinner table.

Kyan and Quinn were further distracted by the fabulous octopus balloons that the balloon man made for them. Once the two of them perched at the foot of the stroller my wide load had reached titanic proportions!

Notice the heads turning to watch us pass and the wide space around us?
It seems that wherever I go, even if I only have the twins, let alone Kyan and Quinn AND the octopus balloons in tow, I draw stares and FAR more comments than I have time for. The most common being, "My, you've got your hands full," in several varying arrangements. Why yes, I do. Thank you for noticing.

In the end Quinn and Kyan got pretty tired, I never found my sugar snap peas, and we had a minor tantrum over kettle corn, but all in all it was a good trip. There were no huge lessons for Kyan today, but I truly believe that living a sustainable life and having the market as a part of our routine is teaching our son the value of the food on his plate and the people in his community. Maybe one day he, too, will be lugging far too many children around a crowded market just to get an extra tasty batch of sustainably grown green beans and some fabulous Oregon berries!