Now that the summer is here, fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful and easy to get. Although grocery store chains do a good job of providing diverse produce offerings, and organic-certified veggies are increasingly available in supermarkets, that produce is often trucked in from growers outside the Tristate area. That can raise cost and decrease shelf life.

Never fear, though— there are plenty of farmers’ markets in the area that bring foods right from the fields to senior’s shopping bags. Most take place once a week. Some are daily!

Farmers’ markets can provide you the fresh ingredients you need to maintain good nutrition, and are a wonderful way to get out in the sunshine, stay active and socialize. Here are some of our favorite recommendations.

Hyde Park Farmers' Market

• Sundays, 9:30 AM-1:30 PM
• Mid-May through October
• Erie Avenue (between Edwards Road and Michigan Avenue), Hyde Park

Organized in 1999 by Judy Williams and Mary Ida Compton, the Hyde Park Farmers’ Market is a growers-only market, meaning nothing sold there may be obtained wholesale or at auction and then resold. The merchants truly are the farmers themselves.

Compton had moved to Cincinnati from California, where roadside stands are plentiful, and she missed being able to get food right from its source. Likewise, Williams— who had previously lived in France, where daily shopping for the fresh ingredients necessary for the day’s meal is more commonplace— had developed a similar passion for fresh ingredients.

The Hyde Park Farmers’ Market offers both organic and conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers as well as locally made baked goods, jams and other products. With over 30 vendors, it specializes in gourmet ingredients not easily found in regular grocery stores.

Findlay Market Farmers’ Market

• Saturdays, 8 AM-2 PM and Sundays, 10 AM-2 PM
• April through November
• 1801 Race Street, Cincinnati

As Ohio’s oldest continuously operated market, the Findlay Market knows a thing or two about providing customers with fresh offerings. In addition to the usual daily vendors inside the historic building, the twice-weekly Farmers’ Market features locally grown produce— much of it harvested immediately before being brought to sale.

Vendors can change from day to day and week to week, so check the webpage before planning your shopping trip.

Northside Farmers Market

• Wednesdays, 4-7 PM
• Mid-May through mid-October
• Jacob Hoffner Park, 4101 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati

Cumminsville, now better known to most locals as Cincinnati’s “Northside” neighborhood, has a rich history of producing its own food. In the nineteenth century, the area was home to several dairy farms that provided residents with fresh milk deliveries. Over by Spring Grove Cemetery, a six-acre plot of land— informally called “Frogtown”— had three greenhouses that were farmed by several families.

Today, that local food producer spirit remains alive in the Northside Farmers Market. It takes place year-round between two locations (in the winter months, it moves to North Presbyterian Church). On Wednesday evenings in the warm season, the Market is held in Hoffner Park. Shoppers will find a bevy of farmers and cottage industry producers selling their wares in the open air, plus many shops and businesses to peruse in the Bohemian neighborhood.

Daily Farmers’ Markets

If you can’t wait to get to a weekly market in your neighborhood, there are two daily farmers’ markets in the Tristate area.

Lunken Airport

• Wilmer Avenue (off State Route 52), Linwood
• Monday-Friday, 1:30-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Boone County, Kentucky

• 6028 Camp Ernst Road, Burlington, KY
• Daily, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

For seniors who can’t get out to shop, Deupree Meals on Wheels is a vital link.

Proper, affordable nutrition is a necessity for everybody, but particularly for those older persons whose health or fixed budgets will not allow them the freedom to shop when they want, for what they want. The Deupree Meals on Wheels program is available to help older people living on the east side of the city.

Tuesday through Friday, volunteers prepare and deliver nutritionally balanced meals with an entrée, a vegetable, a salad, a starch and a nutritious beverage (milk or juice).  Meals are delivered hot, and recipients have the opportunity to choose their entrées and beverages that cater to special dietary needs.

Delivery schedules can even be tailored to a client’s needs, so running an errand or going to a doctor’s appointment doesn’t mean seniors go hungry.