Vegan at a local Farmer’s Market
As a vegan, which by default means living on a plant-based diet, eating vegetables and fruits are paramount! Ideally you attempt to eat organic; however, not every vegetable must be organic and they tend to be more expensive than non-organic. Soft skinned fruits and vegetables will have more pesticide such as spinach, cherries, celery, and apples. Other fruits and vegetables with less pesticide content are avocados, asparagus, pineapples and bananas. The rule of thumb is to attempt to purchase organic with soft skinned fruits and vegetables. Also, you want to keep an eye for the use of wax in fruits and vegetables, as some waxes are coated with non-vegan ingredients. Many fruits and vegetables appear to have that shiny effect due to wax products. For instance, sometimes apples contain shellac, which is a byproduct of the female lac bug from the forests of India and Thailand. So it is better to buy organic apples, which do not contain shellac.
Earlier this morning I visited our local farmer’s market, the Wellness Connection Farmer’s Market, which is located at the Gum’s Spring Library parking lot. Since this a vegan blog, I went on a mission looking for vegan friendly products. As this is a small farmer’s market, I managed to find four vendors offering vegan friendly products.
Zayna’s Delight offers several hummus products and pita chips, which are all vegan, except for the Greek Yogurt Hummus. The vegan friendly hummus is both delicious and healthy, and offers a healthy alternative dip to pair with chips and vegetables.
C. Hess Orchard & Produce is a vegetable and fruit stand within the farmer’s market offering a variety of seasonal concord grapes, prune plums, queen plums, onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, yellow and red peppers, and of course apples. C. Hess Orchard & Produce is based out of Martinsburg West Virginia. While they minimally use pesticides, they do not use any wax products in the vegetables or fruits.
Valencia’s Produce is a vegetable and fruit stand offering corn, yellow peaches, kale, radishes, yellow and red peppers, squash, winter squash, and tomatoes. Valencia’s Produce is a family operated farm from Westmoreland County Virginia.
Gonzales Produce
Gonzales Produce is a vegetable and fruit stand offering patty pan squash, beets, potatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, yellow and red peppers, radishes, tomatoes and eggplants.
I was pleased to find vegan friendly vendors, though mostly produce, and I will make sure to stop by every saturday to stock up on veggies and hummus. Support our local vendors fellow Loudouners!
Wellness Connection Farmer’s Market
Hours: Saturday from 9:00 AM to 1:00PM
24600 Millstream Drive
Library Parking Lot
Aldie, Virginia 20105