Herself Investing in Community, One Farmers market at a Time By Róisín O’Brien
At Morton Wealth, we are so blessed to have an amazing team. One of our newest team members, Roisin O’Brien, originally hails from Ireland. We had a fascinating discussion about microbiomes and the importance of eating locally grown foods whenever possible. I hope you enjoy her contribution to our community blog as much as I’ve enjoyed talking with her! - Priscilla Brehm
“Every dollar we spend is a vote for the kind of community we want to live in.”
Every week offers us countless opportunities to invest not only in ourselves, but in our health, our relationships, and the communities we call home. Sometimes the most meaningful of those investments begin with something as simple as a visit to the local farmers’ market.
Every Friday morning, something special happens in Topanga.
At first glance, our farmers’ market looks like a place to buy fresh vegetables, seasonal fruit, flowers, or a loaf of freshly baked bread. But if you stay for a while, you begin to realize it’s about something much deeper.
It’s where neighbors stop to catch up after a busy week. Where you recognize familiar faces. Where you get to know the farmer who grew your lettuce, the baker who made your bread, the beekeeper who harvested your honey, or the cheesemaker who proudly shares their craft.
Somewhere along the way, buying food becomes less of a transaction and more of a relationship.
In a world where almost anything can be delivered to our doorstep with the click of a button, there is something quietly powerful about knowing the people behind the food we eat.
Last Friday, I watched someone ask a grower what was best that morning. The answer wasn’t the biggest tomato or the prettiest bunch of carrots. It was simply, “These were picked at sunrise.” It was a quiet reminder that food isn’t just something we buy. It’s something someone has cared for.
Perhaps that’s why farmers’ markets feel different.
They’re not just places to shop.
They’re places to belong.
Farmer and essayist Wendell Berry famously wrote:
“Eating is an agricultural act.”
It’s a simple sentence with a profound meaning.
Every meal connects us to the land, to the people who care for it, and to the choices we make every single day.
Food doesn’t begin at the supermarket.
It begins with healthy soil, in careful hands, and in generations of knowledge passed from one farmer to the next.
When we choose to buy locally, we’re not simply purchasing produce.
We’re supporting families.
We’re preserving farmland.
We’re helping small businesses thrive.
And we’re strengthening the future of the place we call home.
Botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that:
“All flourishing is mutual.”
Healthy people, healthy communities, and healthy ecosystems don’t exist separately.
They depend on one another.
Community is built on reciprocity.
We support the people who grow our food, and in return they nourish our families.
It’s a relationship built not just on commerce, but on trust, gratitude, and care.
The world’s Blue Zones offer another important reminder.
Longevity isn’t built on one miracle food or the latest wellness trend.
It’s built through everyday habits: walking, sharing meals, knowing your neighbors, feeling connected, living with purpose, and being part of something bigger than yourself.
Perhaps that’s why places like a local farmers’ market matter more than we realize.
They naturally encourage many of the habits that contribute to a healthy life, not because someone tells us we should, but because they become part of the rhythm of our week.
Physician Dr. Daphne Miller, author of Farmacology, explores the relationship between healthy farming practices and human health.
Her work reminds us that wellness begins long before food reaches our plate.
It begins with healthy soil.
Thoughtful stewardship.
Biodiversity.
Communities that care for the land that ultimately cares for us.
Our gut microbiome may begin inside us, but the story starts beneath our feet.
Healthy soil supports healthy plants.
Healthy plants nourish healthy people.
It’s a beautiful reminder that our own well being is deeply connected to the health of the world around us.
Food has always brought people together.
Around kitchen tables.
At family celebrations.
And every Friday morning at our farmers’ market.
When we know the farmer, the baker, the beekeeper, or the cheesemaker, we’re not just buying food. We’re strengthening the fabric of the place we call home.
We’re choosing connection, conversation, and community.
We’re choosing to care for the people and places that nourish us.
A strong community isn’t built overnight. It’s shaped over time, week after week, conversation after conversation, and choice after choice. And when difficult times come, those relationships are already there.
In Topanga, our farmers’ market also does something beautiful. Each week, fresh fruit and vegetables are collected and delivered to our local seniors through the Sages program. It’s a simple act of generosity that reminds us a farmers’ market isn’t just about buying food. It can also become a way of caring for one another.
Whether you live in Topanga, Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, or somewhere else, I hope you’ll visit your local farmers’ market this week.
Take your time.
Meet the farmer.
Talk to the baker.
Ask what’s in season.
Buy the honey.
Discover something new.
You may come home with fresh food.
But I hope you also leave with something even more valuable: a stronger connection to the people and the place you call home.
Because every dollar we spend is a vote.
A vote for local families.
A vote for small businesses.
A vote for healthy soil.
A vote for connection.
A vote for belonging.
A vote for the kind of community we want to live in.
So this week…
Where will you cast your vote?
Further Reading
Wendell Berry – The Unsettling of America
Robin Wall Kimmerer – Braiding Sweetgrass
Dan Buettner – The Blue Zones
Dr. Daphne Miller – Farmacology
Michael Pollan – In Defense of Food