Debbie Apple enjoys introducing people to River Cottage Farm in Rockfield, where she and her two children raise beef, lambs, chicken, pork and goats. The farm hosted several dozen visitors Thursday during Third Thursday Farm Day, a monthly event presented by the Community Farmers Market that aims to show how food is produced.

“It’s a lot of fun. We see most of these people every week at the farmers market and we’ve gotten pretty close to them,” Apple said. “This is just a great time to say, ‘Come on out and see how we raise the food you eat.’ We also like to see other farmers coming out. At the Community Farmers Market, all us farmers are so close, so it’s an opportunity for us to hang out.”

When farmers started the Community Farmers Market, they decided one of the core values would be educating the public about where their food comes from and connecting them to the farmers that grow their food, said Michelle Howell, an owner of Need More Acres Farm and a founding farmer of the market.

“It’s different when you can picture what their farm looks like when you buy food from them,” she said.

In the past, people may have learned about rural life by visiting grandparents or other relatives who owned a farm, but that’s often not the case anymore, Howell said.

“Now, we’re sort of a generation removed from that,” she said. “This is a way for parents to provide that opportunity for their kids.”

Introducing her daughter to where food comes from is important to Selva Calderon of Bowling Green, who visited River Cottage Farm on Thursday with her daughter Victoria, 2.

“Not only does it connect her to how food is made and that it doesn’t just come from the store, but also that you shouldn’t waste it because of all the effort that went into making it,” Calderon said. “It teaches her to respect food.”

She buys local food at the market to help local farmers financially, to find healthy food and because it’s a friendly community.

“You can really get to know a lot of people,” Calderon said.

Bryan Tillery of Bowling Green estimates about 70 percent of the food his family eats is from local farms.

“We think it’s important to buy locally so that our money is going to a better place,” he said. “The other big factor to us is quality. The food you see here, you cannot buy in a more traditional store.”

Tillery, his wife and two children have come to as many of the Third Thursday Farm Days as they can.

“We find most all the farmers … they want to show you their farm,” he said. “(Commercial farms), they put up no trespassing signs, but these people put up a welcome sign.”

— The next Third Thursday Farm Day is July 18 at Baker Arboretum. For more information about the Community Farmers Market, visit www.communityfarmersmarketbg.com. For more information about River Cottage Farm, visit www.rivercottagefarm.net.

— Laurel Wilson covers faith and general assignments for the Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/FaithinBG or visit www.bgdailynews.com.