According to the USDA, farmer’s markets have quadrupled in popularity over the last 20 years with rising interest in eating fresh and local foods. This benefits both producers and consumers as it cuts out the middle-man to support the source, allowing customers to build a bond with the hand that feeds them. Call this the farm-to-table movement, call it buying local, call it what you like; I trust the hands of hardworking farmers and ranchers to put high-quality, sustainable, and humanly-raised products on my family’s dinner table.

Agriculture is the backbone of America; however, the local community is the backbone of agriculturalists. It’s only right to support your local community and when it makes sense to support your farmers and ranchers, I hope that you do.

Traditional farmer’s markets aren’t the only way to do this, but they do make it easy! With vendors providing a variety of produce, eggs, meat, and baked goods, you can stock your fridge and pantry with food you can trust.

Here are a few of my favorite stands, homesteaders, small farmers, and ranchers that you can support if they’re in your area.

1. Mick Farms
   Located in Saint Cloud, Florida, Mick Farms is a family-owned, first-generation farm providing fresh vegetables seasonally, delicious homemade bread, and seasonal u-picks. At their farm stand located just south of town, you can see the family of 10 tending to crops and customers at every visit. It truly can’t get any more farm-to-table than this! 
   
2. 3 Beez Honey Farm
   3Beez Honey Farm is a Veteran-owned and family-operated company, with the family owning bees as far back as the 1920s. Their honey is raw, never filtered or heated, keeping all the healthy nutrients you’re looking for intact! As someone who eats honey every single day, I can say this is some of the best!
   
3. Palestine Farmers Market
   The Palestine Farmers Market was revived in 2020 when local grocery store shelves were often wiped clean of inventory, proving the importance of a local food chain. They gather alongside the railroad tracks in the Palestine Farmers Market pavilion in Palestine’s historic Main Street district every Saturday
   from March 30 to Dec 7, 9am – 2pm.
   
4. Baugh’s Market and Event Venue 
   This was one of the first markets I learned about when I moved to East Texas from Lubbock. Baugh’s Market brings local food to East Texas and provides homesteading education opportunities through various types of events and classes.
   
5. The Farm Patch Market
   A few years ago, Lane took me to College Station for my birthday and we stopped here. I’ve loved this place ever since. They have a produce section, a pumpkin patch in the Fall, ornamental plants, an import room, and outdoor lifestyle and garden supplies. I haven’t bought any produce from here, but I have taken plants home with me.

Farmers, ranchers, homesteaders, and gardeners in your area would love for you to ask about their products. Even if they don’t advertise any for sale, it doesn’t hurt to ask how and if you can purchase from them.

Feel good about feeding your family store-bought goods.

Scrolling through social media, you’d think buying store-bought was a death sentence and I don’t want you to get the same feeling from this blog. I know several brands that can be found in chain grocery stores and are absolutely worth taking home to your family. These companies are owned and operated by farmers and ranchers who have grown to a scale capable of feeding several thousand instead of just operating under a pop-up tent on Saturday mornings.

Quality food doesn’t have to be exclusive to farmer’s markets. You can buy from the grocery store and still feel good about feeding it to your family.

Just to name a few:

1. Painted Hills Natural Beef
The beef bacon is my favorite, but the tri-tip is a new love of mine thanks to the PNW. Painted Hills Natural Beef can be found online, in restaurants, independent grocers, and retailer chains nationwide. In the 1990s, ranchers in Wheeler County, Oregon started talking about challenging cattle markets and how frustrated they were with raising quality cattle but beef found in the grocery case was inconsistent and did not reflect their effort due to beef being mingled at the packing plants with other producers and being unidentified, “generic” beef. Seven ranching families decided to take action in 1997 and Painted Hills Natural Beef was formed. Their beef is all it’s cracked up to be.

2. 44 Farms
44 Farms has been a great resource for us living so far away from family but still wanting to send holiday gifts and thank yous. Since 1909, 44 Farms has combined the best that science and genetics have to offer while raising all-natural beef with registered Black Angus cattle. 44 Farms ranchers produce steaks with no added hormones, antibiotics, or artificial ingredients with sustainability, animal care, and breed research top of mind.

3. Volleman’s Family Farm
Their milk is thick and creamy, the only way I think milk should be. It also comes in a glass bottle (you get $2 back if you return it to the store!) to make it even better. From Holland to the heart of Texas, the Vollemans can trace their dairy heritage back to 1890. Frank and Annette Volleman started dairying on the family farm in Europe and in 1993, they made the journey to America. Over 25 years later they are providing fresh milk to Texas families, now with their four boys and daughter-in-laws.

Here is Go Texan’s list of local beef, pecans, honey, vegetables, wineries, and other homegrown products.

Things to remember when grocery shopping:

Please just read the labels and research the companies. Believe it or not, there are some people out there who just like to make a living off the land. There are good, real people-owned businesses in grocers, you just have to find them. If you have a good meat and produce source in your local area, ask them questions and support them! If you don’t, shop online and research the labels you see in your store.

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Lane and I are very fortunate to purchase half a steer we helped pour the feed to from my uncle. We’ve been eating on it since April 2023 and have combined it with homegrown groceries from the garden. It’s the simple things like this that bring me a lot of joy. When we’re out, we buy USA beef from the grocery store and from http://www.natural-beef.com. As far as fruit and vegetables go, we’re still mainly shopping at HEB but our garden is growing and our local farmers market is too.