The eating local trend has taken Canada by force, and we’ve got hundreds of farmers markets to prove it. Meet the growers and sample our best locally cultivated fruits and vegetables, plus artisanal products—honey, butter, cheese, jam, cider—on your next vacation. It’s a great way to sample the tastes and talents of a community.

Here, some of our best-loved farmers markets:

• Halifax Farmers’ Market, NS. The granddaddy of them all, this market’s been in place since 1750. Must-haves include a blue cheese called Dragon’s Breath and Acadian meat pies. Runs all year on Saturday mornings. http://novascotia.com/en/home/default.aspx

• Saint John City Market, NB. Look for the wrought-iron gate, listen for the market bell, then run for fresh fiddleheads or lobster. Open six days a week. www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/

• Marché du Vieux-Port de Quebec, QB. This Québec City icon offers up tourtières (traditional Quebec meat pies) and great wine selections under the romantic shadows of 300-hundred-year-old buildings.  www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/accueil0.html

• Goderich Farmers’ Market, ON. The market’s an easy walk to some of Canada’s best sunsets and located in the Courthouse Square of this unique, wheel-shaped town. (519-524-5356) www.ontariotravel.net/

• St. Lawrence Market, Toronto, ON. This revered market in the centre of Toronto’s Old Town is home to the South Market, the permanent location of 50-some specialty vendors known for the variety and freshness of their produce, meats and fish, baked goods and unique non-food items; open daily. The North Market, site of the Saturday Farmers’ Market, is a tradition begun at this location in 1803. It’s still the place in the city to find incredible seasonal and locally grown produce, plus flowers, meats and dairy, and speciality food items. www.ontariotravel.net

• Saskatoon Farmers’ Market and Regina Farmers’ Market, SK. Go for northern pike, Angus beef and sour cherries in Saskatoon; try  bannock (a traditional Aboriginal flat bread), perogies, cabbage rolls and Saskatoon berry pies in Regina. www.sasktourism.com/

• St. Norbert’s Le Marché, MB. Never would have thunk it, but this market offers Asian specialties like bok choy and long beans. Plus with 150 vendors, there’s no shortage of choices. http://travelmanitoba.com/

• Calgary Farmers’ Market, AB. This is ranch country. Take your pick of bison, elk, ostrich, free-range pork and beef, and a great selection of artisanal products. www1.travelalberta.com/en-ab/

• Vancouver Farmers Markets and UBC Farm Market, BC. Vancouverites take their healthy, locally produced, seasonal and environmentally friendly foods seriously; they have a mouthwatering selection of markets around the city where you can find fruit, veggies and fungi, seafood ‘n meats, plus artisanal treats: breads, cheeses, honey and chocolates. Summer markets begin sometime in May and usually run through October on Saturdays (east side, downtown west end and UBC), Sundays (west side) and Wednesdays (train station). The covered winter market runs twice monthly November through April (east side). Year-round, you can always find food, glorious food at the covered Granville Island Public Market. Take a tour of the delectable, world-famous digs; it’s offered daily by Edible British Columbia. www.hellobc.com/en-CA/default.htm

• Saltspring Island Saturday Market, BC. There’s a homespun guarantee here: vendors must “make it, bake it or grow it” themselves. The market runs from early April to late October and features 140 artisans, from growers of organic fruit and vegetables to producers of handcrafted cheeses to potters, jewellers and fibre artists. www.hellobc.com/en-CA/default.htm

• Market in the Square, Duncan, BC. Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley is a hotbed of local, fresh, organic foods, many on display at this favourite market. Over 100 farmers, artisans and craftspeople gather each Saturday from March to December selling fruit, veg and plants, bread, pies, cheeses and, uh huh, even sock monkeys, that they have grown, made, baked, knit, sewn or crafted. www.hellobc.com/en-CA/default.htm

www.traveltowellness.com/canada_farmers_markets