When you’re out buying a few heirloom tomatoes or zucchini at your local farmers market this summer, it’s easy to forget to bring your own bags to package up your fresh finds for the trip home.

This year, the Iowa Farm Bureau donated 1 million recyclable plastic bags to farmers market vendors throughout the state.

The market bags help Iowa farmers save the extra cost of buying their own bags, while also making it more convenient for customers to safely transport the locally grown produce home.

“Iowa agriculture comes in many forms. Making these bags available to farmers market vendors across the state is one way to show our support for farmers of all types and sizes and the rural communities who benefit from these markets,” said Dana Ardary, Iowa Farm Bureau’s marketing manager.

Farm Bureau distributed the bags to market managers at the Iowa Farmers Market Conference in February.

The bags are then shared with more than 100 farmers markets and vendors in communities across the state. This was the sixth year that Iowa Farm Bureau has donated the bags.

The Dickinson County Farm Bureau received the following thank-you note from a Spirit Lake farmers market: “The Lakes Area Farmers Market would like to thank the Iowa Farm Bureau and all their members for donating the market bags to farmers markets across the state of Iowa for transporting fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables from markets to home …; as a member and manager in Dickinson County, I would like to express my gratitude for the 35,000 bags our market received and for this generous support by Farm Bureau.”