by KELLI FONTENOT
Published Aug. 13, 2009 in The Jambalaya News
A familiar sight – juicy green watermelons piled high in the back of a pickup truck – lures shoppers to the end of Bilbo Street at the Charlestown Farmers Market early Saturday morning.
Scotty LeBleu of DeQuincy has been selling these Charleston Grays and Jubilees from Singer for a few months, but he plans to grow his own watermelons next year. It’s a good thing, too. When he came to the market in the spring with his homegrown lettuce, customers couldn’t get enough.
“It stays fresh much longer,” he says. “I picked it like the day before. That’s what’s so good about the market – everything’s fresh.”
Buying natural produce from local vendors is also a simple way to go green. Farmers markets offer products that are not tainted by hormones or pesticides. Unlike a supermarket, a farmers market takes place outdoors and requires a minimal amount of electricity. The vendors live nearby, so they consume less fuel than it would take to transport goods from a farm across the country.
The Charlestown Farmers Market has moved three times since its opening in March of 2005, but it now takes place each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. behind the Historic City Hall Arts and Cultural Center in Lake Charles. It is one of about 4,800 farmers markets currently operating in America, according to the U.S. Agricultural Marketing Service.
