 Have you ever walked past a vegetable simply because it looked a little… different?
Maybe it was a carrot with two legs, a lumpy potato, a strawberry with three heads, or a strange-looking bulb called kohlrabi. It’s easy to overlook produce that doesn’t fit our idea of what a vegetable “should” look like. After all, many of us have grown up seeing rows of nearly identical fruits and vegetables lining grocery store shelves. A trip to the Horton Farmers’ Market is a reminder that nature doesn’t grow in straight lines.
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 There is something different about shopping at a farmers’ market. You can rush through a grocery store, grab what you need and be home before you have really thought about what you bought. At the market, there is a little more room to slow down. You might stop to chat with a vendor, sample something you have never tried before, notice what is in season or make an unexpected discovery along the way.
That is part of what makes market shopping special. It is not just a way to buy food. It can become a ritual. A trip to the farmers’ market does not have to be something you squeeze into your weekend between everything else on your to-do list. Instead, it can become something you look forward to.  It's on brand for us to love celebrating local food and the people who make it, so we're extra excited that Bridges is just around the corner! This annual evening shines a spotlight on the incredible small businesses of St. Thomas and Elgin County, and this year it's bringing together music, community, and of course, a whole lot of flavour.
 When you hand a vendor a $20 bill at the Horton Farmers’ Market, it can be easy to think of the transaction as simply a purchase. You get something fresh, local, and delicious, and the vendor gets to make a sale - but that $20 does more than buy a basket of tomatoes, a loaf of bread, and some sweet treats for the weekend. It becomes part of a much bigger local food economy - one that connects farmers, food producers, small businesses, and the community around them.
One of the biggest differences between shopping at the farmers’ market and shopping through a traditional retail chain is the direct connection between the person buying the food and the person who grew or made it. There is often no large chain of middlemen between the producer and the customer. Selling directly allows farmers to keep more of the revenue from each sale, while also giving them immediate payment and a chance to learn directly from their customers (Ontario Federation of Agriculture, 2025). |
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10 Manitoba Street, 1/2 block North of Talbot Street St. Thomas, Ontario © Horton Farmers' Market 2025
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