Buy Local and Fresh at the Historic Longview Farmers Market

Saturday, May 15, 2010 marks the opening of the Historic Longview Farmers Market and the beginning of a movement to bring fresh local and sustainable food to the city of Longview, a city that is in need of better quality food.

Grocery shopping in Longview leaves the most health conscious person longing for quality food and culinary artists in a state of great depression. More often than not, the food found in the grocery stores is from many miles away and is not organic. By the time the food reaches the store, it is not fresh or vibrant, which is disappointing considering Texas leads the nation with 247,500 farms and ranches that cover 130.4 million acres (Texas Department of Agriculture). Instead, Texas ranks fourth overall in agricultural exports and is a leading exporter of cotton, feeds, peanuts, live animals, meat, poultry, animal fats, hides and skins, milk, grains and nuts.

The Historic Longview Farmers Market will provide the many wonderful growers and producers from all over East Texas a central location to showcase local and sustainable food along with other non-food products, and enable them to sell their products directly to the community. According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, 98.5% of Texas farms and ranches are family farms, partnerships or family-held corporations. The farmers market will not only help build the local economy, but it will give people the opportunity to buy food directly from family farms and find comfort in knowing where their food came from and the conditions which it was raised.

The home of the new farmers market is the historic Kelly Plow Works parking lot in downtown Longview located on Cotton St. between High St. and Center St. The site faces Cotton St. which is a very busy thruway street. It is also within walking distance from the many downtown shops and is across the street from the Fire Department and the Kilgore College Campus.

There is great excitement and anticipation of its opening among the many people who have heard about the farmers market. The success of the farmers market depends on participation from the community. Please support the farmers market by visiting often and buying the products, telling your friends and family, making a donation, buying a banner or volunteering your time to help keep it running. The Historic Longview Farmers Market is a project of Preservation Longview, a 501(c)3 organization. For more information please visit the website and follow on Facebook.

Please join us in creating something wonderful for our community!

If you would like to create a more vibrant and healthy life and need personal support and assistance to help you get started, please contact me today! I can help you 866-330-5421. Services are provided nationally via telephone sessions. In person sessions are currently available for those living in the East Texas area!

Thank you very much for reading my blog and please continue to visit often.

I wish you good health, happiness and love!

Danielle

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