On Saturday, spring truly arrived in Schenectady - or at least one of my favorite things about spring and summer in Schenectady: the Farmer’s Market.

Almost every Saturday morning throughout spring and summer, my mom and I head down to Union Street. The market is held in the lot behind Bruegger’s. Everything there is grown by farmers living in our area. The variety of plants, fruits and veggies changes each week, depending on what’s in season.

My mom and I enjoy our Saturday mornings at the market. The freshness of the produce is second to none. I remember vividly one Saturday morning last year, the first week of strawberry season. One of the farmers literally went back to his farm to pick more strawberries after they sold out so quickly. Berries don’t get fresher than that.

But over the past year, the market has started to take on a new significance for me and my mom. Last summer, my brother began volunteering for Roots and Wisdom, which describes itself as “a youth agriculture and community service program.” During the summer, they bring together urban, suburban and rural teens from throughout Schenectady County to grow organic vegetables.

Some vegetables are then donated to the food pantry; they also sell produce to local restaurants and at a farmer’s market. You can check out their organization here.

My brother is somewhat opposed to manual labor, so when he came home enthralled with gardening after his first time volunteering, my mom and I decided to check out the Roots and Wisdom Farmer’s Market. The organization works at the market held every Tuesday at St. Luke’s Church. This year, it’s starting in late June and will run from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. We were impressed by the dedication of the kids involved and the quality of produce. But what made a real impact on me were the signs explaining the merits of eating locally grown food.

Roots and Wisdom lists some of the benefits of eating local on its Web site. Among the reasons to buy local are supporting local families and reducing your carbon footprint.

I recently read Barabara Kingsolver’s book on the same topic, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". Kingsolver describes her family’s year of eating only locally grown foods. She describes many of the same reasons as Roots and Wisdom for making her decision, but highlights how tasty locally grown food is. In my opinion, it simply tastes better. Food grown here is still ripe and delicious when it goes to the grocery store.

Some say eating locally is overly expensive. But the prices at the Farmer’s Market are normally on par with those at a grocery store, sometimes even a little cheaper, and all the money goes straight to a farmer. The market at St. Luke’s also accepts food stamps as a form of payment.

So next Saturday morning, enjoy a stroll at the Farmer’s Market on Union Street. You can check out some delicious local produce, or maybe get a plant for your mom to celebrate mother’s day.