Local food!!

Chattanooga has embraced few things as a city quite the way it's taken to the local food movement. While fans of local food elsewhere in the country despair at the lack of accessible, inexpensive places to buy the freshest produce, it sometimes seems like it's impossible to turn around in Chattanooga without running into booths of farmers heaped with radishes, tomatoes, parsnips, and more. When you mention going to the farmer's market in this town, the response is inevitably, "which one?" or "what day do you go?" Whether you are new to Chattanooga or a current resident looking to get in on delicious summer vegetables, check out on of these markets:

Main Street Farmer's Market -- Wednesdays from 4-6 at 325 East Main Street. The Main Street Farmer's Market has a wide selection of vendors, and is a great spot to stop on your way home from work to get the week's dinner fixings.

Brainerd Farmer's Market -- In-Season Saturdays, May-September from 10 am to 12 pm (11 to 12 in April and October) at Grace Episcopal Church at the corner of Brainerd Road and Belvoir Avenue. This is a newer farmer's market more accessible to Brainerd, East Brainerd, and Lee Highway than those on the Southside.

Signal Mountain Farmer's Market -- Thursdays from 4-6 at 2815 Anderson Pike, Signal Mountain, TN. Another newer market to serve the growing Signal Mountain community and a great alternative to the markets centered in downtown.

The Chattanooga Market -- In-Season Sundays, April-December from 11-4 at First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Boulevard. This is the mac daddy of all Chattanooga farmers markets, featuring not only produce, meat, and eggs, but also a number of other vendors not seen at other markets. Food trucks, arts 'n'crafts, brewers, live music and dance performances, and potted plants are also featured.

If you are inspired by the seasonal bounty or end up with an ingredient you don't recognize, check out Local Milk, a Chattanooga blog focused entirely on creating inventive local cuisine and tailoring recipes to Chattanoogan ingredients.