I Heart My Urban Produce Market

If I can manage it, I usually make a weekend trip to Iovine Brothers, an urban produce market in Reading Terminal. Not only do they carry a ton of marked, local produce, but their prices are fantastic!

Typically, Brad and I go on a Saturday morning, conveniently just before lunchtime. We trek over to the Terminal with canvas bags in hand, have a little lunch, and then hit up a few stands to scrounge up food for the week.

I've long been saying that I would like to post my loot from Iovine because I'm always so damn excited about how affordable their produce is. I think I might even have a reputation, in fact, for reciting all that I've bought and what I paid for everything.

So friends, here we are. It's a post about my receipt from a recent shopping trip.

What I Got
Seedless watermelon — $1.99
1 lb. strawberries — $1.00
Bunch of cilantro — $1.49
Bunch of scallions — $0.75
7 lbs. (!!!!) Bing cherries — $6.88
Bag of romaine hearts — $2.99
1.5 lbs. Zucchini — $2.15
1 large red pepper — $0.87
1 large red onion — $0.57
2 limes — $1.00
1.5 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes — $0.79

Total cost: $20.48
More produce than we can use in a week: Priceless!

When we got home that afternoon, I came into the kitchen to find that my husband had arranged this:

Yup, it's the Food Pyramid.

He's very clever, my husband.

So what I'm saying is that it makes my heart (and taste buds and stomach) happy to know that I'm eating a lot of local produce that I bought from a place with a social conscience. Plus, it makes eating healthfully a lot easier and more affordable.

With a little research, you can find local markets in your area — Local Harvest is a great online resource to find CSAs, farmers markets, organic groceries, etc. anywhere in the country. Check it out!