Farmstand: Your Local Food Resource

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Farmstand: Your Local Food Resource Posted: 20 May 2013 11:48 AM PDT There are quite a few apps out there aimed at helping you to master healthy habits. Some provide you with tracking software so you can stay on top of diet and exercise while others allow you to scan barcodes at the grocery store so that they can recommend healthier alternatives to the products you already buy. Actually, Fooducate is one that offers both types of functionality, if that’s what you happen to be looking for. But if you really want ensure the best possible health and personal wellness, you need to think beyond your next meal. You must consider just what it is you’re ingesting with every meal and how the toxic chemicals used to grow the majority of food crops can affect not only your body, but also the planet that supports all life. When you think about it that way, you’re actually getting a double whammy of harm from your food since it not only pollutes your body when you ingest it, but it also pollutes the ground, water, and air while it’s being grown. This line of thought could lead you to the sensible conclusion that it’s high time you made the switch to organic and locally-grown foodstuffs. And the Farmstand application for your iPhone can help you to find just what you’re looking for. The idea behind this freebie is simple enough; you just open the application in order to get a listing of nearby farmer’s markets. Using the GPS on your smartphone the app will pinpoint your location and show you both a map view (with pins) and a list of markets that you can scroll through, with those markets closest to your current location at the top of the list. You can either select the market from the list or tap a pin on the map to see complete information, including the address, the days and hours of operation, and a feed that shows you user-posted pics and commentary that will give you an idea of what the market itself looks like and what various vendors have to offer. Of course, once you arrive you can start snapping your own pics to share with interested members of the Farmstand community. Unfortunately, the app won’t tell you whether or not organic produce and other products are available, although you can generally assume that anything you get from a farmer’s market is going to pack less environmental impact than something you’d get at the grocery store, for the simple fact that it hasn’t been transported across the country via refrigerated big rig. However, visitors to the market may post about particular booths that offer the organic fare you’re seeking. And once you’ve gone yourself, you too can contribute to the community by taking pics of stands that feature signs touting organic wares. You can also post additional information pertaining to deals at particular stands, vendors featuring new items, or even fruits and vegetables that are about to go out of season (in case anyone wants them for canning or jamming purposes to tide them over until next year). This may not be the cream of the crop as far as environmental data resources go. But the easy-to-use interface, simple functionality, and sharing possibilities make it one of the best ways to find a farmer’s market near your home or in nearly any area you happen to be visiting (the app currently covers locations in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). And since the community adds to and updates the markets listed, you can play your part in ensuring that anyone who is interested has access to the fresh, local foodstuffs they seek. You can attend to your own health and the health of the planet along the way, as well.

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