August to me is a mixed bag. It’s harvest time and falls in the middle of the best food of the year. To shop fresh food at local farmers markets in communities of all sizes is a true seasonal highlight. But it also goes by so fast! For a 31 day month, I consider it to be likely the shortest month of the year with its blinding speed. Summer is winding down rapidly and peak season food has a short window of opportunity to seize.
That also makes us appreciate it all the more and I’m pretty sure our love of local food and farmers markets is a common bond among Melaleuca customers—probably all customers, as our love of the natural products we enjoy also means food from the loving hands of those who nurtured it to get it to market would be at least as important. Just the experience of shopping a farmers market, often outdoors, with direct connection to the farmers, the sights, sounds, smells, and colors, and the festive atmosphere of other shoppers who share that common bond, could never be equaled, even by the fanciest of supermarket environments.
After decades of commercialization and industrialization that pretty much sterilized our society’s connection to nature, even urban areas like ours have been rediscovering traditional agricultural value in increasing measure. To me, that is a great transformation. The growing movement toward “local” both in stores and restaurants is a welcome change. There are byproducts like farm to table events and culinary artists who craft menu selections based on the availability of fresh, local ingredients.
Melaleuca has long referred to themselves as The Wellness Company and though they don’t operate a farmers market as far as I am aware, the core values are very much shared and I will take the opportunity this August to salute farmers markets and the many other efforts being made to reconnect us to fresh, local, natural, and every related element that contributes to our well being. Enjoy this bountiful season!