The vast majority of us buy our meat, fruit, veg and other food products in the supermarket every week, and often don't consider other alternatives that might be out there.
One of those alternatives is a farmers market, where traders gather to sell fresh produce and ingredients, grown and produced near to where they are being sold.
Speaking to these traders, you realise that there is a number of reasons people choose to come to these farmers markets, with a prominent one being a consideration for their carbon footprint.
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We visited Airfield Farmer's Market, which takes place at Airfield Estate in Dundrum every Friday and Saturday.
The traders there sell a wide range of things from baked goods to fresh fruit and veg to meat and much more. We caught up with some of them to find out why some people choose these markets as an alternative to supermarkets.
Maggie from Hibernia Food Store, which specialises in fresh ancient grain bread, other baked treats and ingredients, explained: "I go into a supermarket and I'm dazzled because there's so much stuff. I come in here, okay they cost a bit more, but I go home with top notch stuff; beautiful olives, veg, really good quality stuff.
"And I haven't filled a trolley full of stuff that I didn't really need in the first place."
Margaret from Killmullen Farm also spoke to us about the benefits of getting your ingredients and food shop at a farmer's market, where the produce will have no air miles or will have produced little carbon emissions.
Speaking about what was on offer at her stall, she said: "This lamb here was reared on our farm, born next door to the preparation room.
"I can tell you how to cook it, I can tell you what not to do with it, added value that you can never get in a big chain.
"Some of us should be scared because of climate change. There's that education piece around where our food is coming from."
Director of Operations and Sustainability at Airfield Estate, John O'Toole, explained to us that the producers at the market sell Irish seasonally grown food, which ultimately results in a lower carbon footprint.
He said: "It's not being flown in from abroad. It's coming from Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare."
Another reason for people to come to the market every week, as these traders explain, is the sense of community.
Margaret explained: "It's lovely that we have regulars. We have people who have been coming to us for around seven years and new people every weekend."
Maggie added: "We're like one big happy family. Most of the customers know my first name and I know theirs.
"There's this lovely market community. We know each other and we care about each other and we look after our customers. It's not like going through a checkout with everything on the conveyor belt, this is real and the people are real."
The farmers market at Airfield Estate takes place every Friday and Saturday between 9am and 2.30pm.
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