Diamonds, rubies, emeralds...all very nice baubles to be sure. But if you want to impress the Roving Locavore with exquisite luminous colours, take her to a pantry full of preserved summer produce. As the light reflects off shining glass to reflect the deep summertime hues of jams, relishes, chutneys, and sauces, it seems that true wealth is only a twist, snap and aromatic sniff away.

And She Who Eats Locally is once again on a mission to bottle this year’s harvest into a myriad of tasty treats that, once opened in the winter months, will remind her and her family of all that is good about Ontario summers. Eating locally is not just about buying Ontario fruit and veggies over a short 3 month period when the days are long and the sun shines bright. A true Locavore will find ways of putting the more perishable foods of the season into jars or freezer bags in order to have local provisions all year round.

And where best to go to find cucumbers, onions, peppers, tomatoes, beans, fresh herbs, peaches or cherries? Why, the farmers’ markets to be sure! And while you are there, look for baskets of potatoes, carrots and squash that can be stored in a cool basement location for months to come. In our immediate area, the fresh food sleuth can frequent four different markets operating in Cambridge, Kitchener, St Jacobs and Elmira. Just click here to find their locations.

You may notice some Buy Local Buy Fresh signs at stalls in the market – this means that the farmers are Foodlink partners and you can be sure that the fare they’re serving up is as local as it comes. Don’t hesitate, however, to ask the vendors where they are from and if their foods are locally grown. The Roving Locavore takes some satisfaction in knowing that her pickling cucumbers were picked less than 20km from where they now sit as jars of relish, bread and butter pickles and dill pickles. And the tomatoes that fill out her salsa jars – well, they were found just a hop, skip and jump away in the backyard garden.

And the best thing about local food right now is that fruits and vegetables are amongst the healthiest foods we can eat. The Roving Locavore urges everyone to eat their seven or eight servings a day – it is such a pleasure when the farmers’ market is your source.