One of the best ways to enjoy exotic fruits, farm-fresh veggies and locally sourced food products is to visit a farmers’ market. Not only do you get to try the freshest, healthiest produce available but you’ll often find extra surprises associated with these markets, and you can talk to the locals about their food culture. Check out these West Maui open-air markets this summer:
Launiupoko Co-Op Farmers’ Market – on the frontage road at the stoplight intersection of Highway 30 and Kai Hele Ku Street – Open Saturdays from 8 am to 12 noon
Residents of the agricultural land subdivision across from Launiupoko Beach Park have banded together to host a small market of tented booths, featuring the fruits of their home labors
. Produce from these farms include herbs, squash, avocados, bananas, coconuts and papayas. You’ll also find farm-fresh eggs and baked goods. A different selection is offered each week, depending on the participants. Parking is available in the open-air lot off Kai Hele Ku Street or in the beach access lot across the highway.
Farmers Market Maui in Honokowai – 3636 L. Honoapi‘ilani Road across from Honokowai Beach Park – Open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays between 7 and 11 am
The open-air, parking lot market was one of the first traditional farmers’ markets on the island, and has been going since the mid-1980s. Today, it is associated with the Farmers Market Maui & Deli health food store and deli-cafe in Honokowai 
Beach Center. But three mornings a week you can still find tropical fruits and other produce freshly picked from Maui farms. Specialties include Maui onions, Maui Gold pineapples, island papayas and apple bananas, Kula corn and tomatoes, local lettuce and avocados. There’s also a wide variety of island made salsas, dips, jams and sauces along with baked goods. Inside, the deli’s prepared foods are strictly vegetarian and very yummy as are the fresh fruit smoothie drinks.
Napili Farmers’ Market – at the stoplight intersection of Highway 30 and Napilihau Street on the mountain side, below Maui Preparatory Academy – Open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 to 11 am
This small co-op market packs a big punch. Local farm sourcer, Steve, presents a vast array of organic produce from farms around the island. Shop for colorful carrots, beets and sweet potatoes; check out yellow beans, green beans, cherry tomatoes and herbs. You’ll 
see zucchini, eggplant and broccoli at times, too. Tropical fruits include Maui Gold pineapples, mangoes and papayas. You can eat a rainbow of goodness here. Maui food purveyors sell muffins, scones and breads. There’s also a juice bar with kombucha on tap.
If you’re lucky, you may be treated to a serenade by a local singer-guitarist fresh off the beach or just down from the mountain.
It’s all about being in the right place, Maui style!
at Home on Maui 