If the saying “you are what you eat” is true, shopping for your family’s nutritional needs at a local farmers market could be a healthy start.

This summer, a number of farmers markets on the east side of the metro area offer locally grown produce and fresh meat, poultry and dairy products in a relaxing setting and at a cost that’s tough to beat.

Marcella Champion, the market master for Cumberland’s farmers market, said an advantage to buying fresh food from a local vendor is that consumers know the products’ origin.

“Our farmers sell you the same food that they feed their own families,” Champion said of the market in the town along U.S. 40 on the Hancock County line. “In addition, those who come to the market have the chance to talk to the farmers and get a sense of how their food is grown.”

With the focus on organic foods and products, but often at a cost few families can bear in this economy, farmers markets offer folks the chance to buy food at a reasonable price that isn’t injected with preservatives or additives, or sprayed with pesticides.

Champion also said the quality of food at a farmers market is so much better than what consumers are used to at the grocery store.

“We have vendors who sell meat and poultry, and once you taste their products, you will wonder if you have been eating cardboard up until now,” she said. “The difference is phenomenal, and it will bring you back time and time again.”

Kevin Edwards, co-owner of Edibles in Irvington, said that many of that organic food store’s food suppliers also sell their wares at the Irvington farmers market, held every second Sunday of the month. In addition to getting great food products at that farmers market, visitors can shop from a variety of other wares on display.

“It’s a vendor’s mart of sorts,” Edwards said.

Some local farmers markets offer a festive and family-friendly atmosphere while consumers shop.

The Cumberland and Irvington markets often feature entertainment by local bands, artists or other events. Recently, an antique steam-driven agricultural machine was on display at the Cumberland market.

Champion said Cumberland’s Tuesday night market was started this year and is geared for parents and others who want to pick up something on the way home from work.

“Saturday mornings can be a little crazy with kids’ activities and other errands that have to be run,” said Champion. “We discovered that a lot of our consumers welcomed the idea of an evening market.”

Roy Ballard, an agriculture and natural resources expert with the Hancock County Extension office in Greenfield, said he feels farmers markets offer buyers a fresh perspective on their food and a chance to meet the people who produced it.

This year, the Greenfield farmers market has moved to the Hancock County Fairgrounds from its previous location downtown, even though a few farmers are still setting up stands there.

Ballard said a farmers market offers people the chance to buy locally grown food of the freshest quality.

“I am a big fan of farmers markets,” he said.