"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap,

but by the seeds that you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Spring is buzzing along which means the local farmers' markets will be opening for their regular season this month! Harvest Market is proud to sponsor the Kennett Square Farmers Market and the New Garden Growers Market, two fantastic displays of our local, living economy in action.

Another way to access the freshest foods in our region is through a share in a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. Harvest Market offers four fantastic CSA choices, each offering weekly pick ups of everything they're harvesting - from fruits, vegetables, meat and flowers, to value added products like cheese, bread, and even medicine! Choose from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative (LFFC), North Star Orchard, Calvert Farm, and Three Birds Bouquets.

May is a time to mark Celiac Awareness Month and showcase all the delicious gluten-free products that we carry. We add new gluten-free products to our shelves all the time, and are always happy to help customers who are new to avoiding gluten, or who are looking for new gluten-free products to spice up their diet.

In celebration of Mothers everywhere, we'll be giving away five Aubrey Gift Baskets on May 8. Stop by the store and enter to win during the week of May 1-8 and don't forget to call or visit your mother (you'll thank us later).

New Gluten-Free Products

Nature's Path
Homestyle Waffles

Nature's Path's best-selling frozen waffle comes to Harvest Market! A deliciously plain, gluten-free waffle that's light and crispy, this waffle makes a great breakfast item or snack. All of Nature's Path products are Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, so you can feel good about buying them for your family. Also look for Nature's Path's new line of gluten-free Q'ia bars in flavors like Dark Chocolate Cranberry Almond, Blueberry Cashew Pumpkin Seed, and Mocha Cocoa Hazlenut.

Jackson's Honest Chips

Jackson's Honest Potato and Sweet Potato Chips are kettle cooked in one of the healthiest fats on Earth: organic coconut oil. Born out of necessity in their own kitchen, Jackson's Honest parent-creators were faced with their child's illness and needed a snack made with simple, transparent ingredients. This video tells their compelling story and encourages us all to think about how our food choices affect our well-being. Thanks to our customers for suggesting we bring in these delicious and totally addictive new chips!

Maple Hill
Greek Yogurt

100% grass-fed dairy is much more than a packing claim when it comes to Maple Hill Creamery, located in upstate New York. In addition to Maple Hill's creamline yogurts, we now offer their Greek yogurt in Vanilla Bean and Strawberry, as well as a larger container of Plain Greek Yogurt, free of any added sugar or flavor. For more information on grass-fed dairy, take a peek at Maple Hill's eye-catching infographic on 100% Grass-Fed Dairy, which illustrates why their farm-fresh product is so nutritious and flavorful.

Events and Activism

Moms Across America Meet Up

Saturday,

May 2

11:30am-2:30pm

Hockessin Memorial Hall

Do your kids have allergies, autism, auto immune issues, asthma, digestive disorders, diabetes or obesity? On May 2, we will unite across the nation to celebrate Moms and Dads as we support each other through sharing our children's heath issues and the solutions we have discovered. Join us for an international video conference call at the Meetup with Dr. Vandana Shiva, crusader for GMO awareness, Jeffrey Smith, author of Genetic Roulette, and other notable advocates!

Click here for more information or email Heather@HarvestMar
ketNaturalFoods.com.

World Fair
Trade Day

Saturday,

May 9
11am-5pm

World Fair Trade Day is a worldwide festival of events celebrating Fair Trade as a tangible contribution to the fight against poverty, exploitation and climate change, and their effects on the world's most vulnerable populations.

Harvest Market will be welcoming back the Tin Lizzy Mobile Boutique to our parking lot, where she'll be selling her Fair Trade wares (clothing, jewelry, accessories, and cards). We'll have a variety of Fair Trade food and drink samples in the store, and a Fair Trade "Better Life" basket for one lucky shopper!

What Treat Can Ruben Eat? Book Signing

Saturday,

May 16

11am-2pm

Written by a local author, John-Ruben Aranton, "What Treat Can Ruben Eat?" is about a young raccoon, Ruben, and his "challenges" living with food allergies. Ruben soon realizes that his "challenges" are not a challenge after all. Children and adults will fall in love with the cute illustrations of Ruben and his adorable woodland friends as he goes through his day looking for a treat to eat. Copies of the book will be available for sale by the author, and we'll have allergy-free snacks during the event. Bring your kids and come along!

Take Action: Bring Back the Pollinators

According to the Xerces Society, you can help bring back pollinators with these four steps:

1. Flowers provide the nectar and pollen resources that pollinators feed on. Growing the right flowers, shrubs, and trees with overlapping bloom times will support pollinators in all seasons.

2. A home for growing pollinators is essential. You can leave patches of bare ground and brush piles or install nesting blocks, and plant caterpillar host plants.

3. Pesticides are harmful to pollinators, especially insecticides. Herbicides reduce food sources by removing flowers from the landscape.

4. Sign the Pollinator Protection Pledge.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Click on the individual images below for more information about the CSA's we offer for pick up at Harvest Market.

Monthly Specials

Harvest Market Kitchen

The newest addition to the seasonally-inspired Harvest Market Kitchen repertoire is the

Spring Salad with Wild Caught Smoked Salmon. Bursting with color and flavor, you'll get your fill of antioxidants and healthy fats from the vibrant vegetables, plump blackberries, and Omega-3-rich smoked salmon. Paired with our homemade Lemon Olive Oil dressing, this salad provides balanced nutrition on the go!

Food for Thought

A new report, Culture Wars: How the Food Giants Turned Yogurt, a Health Food, into Junk Food, issued by The Cornucopia Institute, accuses Dannon, Yoplait, Chobani and other major marketers of misleading parents, who are looking for healthier foods for their families, into purchasing yogurts loaded with sugar and containing a myriad of questionably safe artificial sweeteners, colors and emulsifiers. The group alleges that agribusiness, in their marketing approach, has capitalized on yogurt's historic, well-deserved healthful reputation while simultaneously adulterating the product, sometimes illegally, to gain competitive advantage and popular appeal.

In addition to The Cornucopia Institute's comprehensive report on the yogurt industry, they also released a related scorecard rating 114 brands and separating the truly healthy options from those that would be found on any dietitian's shortlist of foods to avoid. We are happy to report that Harvest Market carries the top-rated brands of yogurt, and we will continue to seek out the highest-quality, grass-fed dairy products we can find.

Harvest Market is pleased to support the Cornucopia Institute. The Cornucopia Institute, through research and investigations on agricultural and food issues, provides needed information to family farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the good food movement and to the media. We support economic justice for the family-scale farming community - partnered with consumers - backing ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food. Visit The Cornucopia Institute's website and many social media outlets for more investigative reports and useful research about food and farming.