food transparency makes us happy

The calendar says summer is officially underway and farmers markets across the country are once again lively and bustling places—now more than ever, apparently. According to the USDA, farmers markets have grown 17 percent in the last two years.

One major reason why: people like the idea of eating local, and perhaps more importantly, knowing where, exactly, the food comes from that they’re going to be putting on the family table. This concept of knowing where one’s food comes from is becoming known as “transparency,” and more consumers today are demanding it from their food sources—in both grocery stores and restaurants.

The recent food contamination outbreak in Europe has undoubtedly helped to further ratchet up people’s desire to know as much as possible about what they’re putting inside their bodies.