Farmer's Markets: English Speech

I received this awesome assignment in my English class to write a speech, using various rhetorical devices which we had learned in class, about anything that we wanted. I chose to talk a little bit about farmers markets. This material won't be anything new for all of you, but if you're interested, check it out.

They’re red, shiny, brilliant, and plump, but aesthetics aside, they’re incredibly succulent and juicy. At this time of the year, the flavor, the texture, the taste of this fruit is far superior to those of another season. A single bite reveals crisp yet moist flesh and a taste that is altogether purer than that of the grocery store varieties, I speak of the apple, but apples are only one reason to make it out to the farmer’s markets this fall. The markets are filled with a plethora of fruits and vegetables fresh from local farms.

To eat fresh produce from a local farm is a sublime experience, and such an experience is accessible now more than ever. Markets are still full of summer’s bounty, yet are likewise beginning to stock fall’s produce. Pumpkins, apples, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, are becoming increasingly available, and are at their best now. I urge you to pick up these autumnal items from your farmer’s markets rather than your grocery stores.

Markets offer produce picked at peak ripeness, whereas grocery store produce is often ripened artificially, in countries like Chile. Farmer’s market produce has also traveled only a couple, rather than thousands of miles, and is therefore fresher and inevitably better tasting. But don’t solely buy produce from farmer’s markets because it tastes better, buy it because it’s more environmentally friendly, and often in your best interests economically as well. Farmer’s markets support the farmer’s who labor day in and day out, often seven days a week to bring you food. The government however, seems to care little about their hard work. The government subsidizes the growing of crops such as corn to be grown by major corporations, which cuts into potential profits for the farmer. That and the fact that much of what was previously the job of the farmer, has been taken over by the major corporations, whose ruthless tactics, and cutthroat campaigns rarely produce produce of comparable quality to that of small farmers.

True such food (the kind grown by major corporations and sold in grocery stores) is less expensive, but who would you rather give your money to, a small farmer whose life’s work is ensuring that you get a premium product, or a corporate executive who couldn’t care less about the produce he’s providing? What would you rather support, the local economy, or a major company like Monsanto, in which the large concentration of money is at the top, and that gives 9 figure bonuses to its executives ?

I, for one, would rather support the farmers: the farmers (anadiplosis) who tend to your food with their very own hands: the farmers whose lifestyle is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain: the farmers whose food not only tastes better, but is better for the environment. So if nothing else, at least try some apples from a local market this fall. They’re red, shiny, brilliant, and plump, but aesthetics aside, they’re utterly superior, economically, morally, environmentally and in taste, than the grocery store variety.