Farmers Markets Boom Across the USA
Farm-fresh in the city
City dwellers are flocking to farmers' markets to sniff peaches and thump
watermelons

From Christian Science Monitor 8/29/01
By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK - It's 6:30 a.m. While most New Yorkers are still sleeping, farmers
- at a sprinter's pace - are turning one of the city's urban parks into a
real-life cornucopia.

There are 18 varieties of onions, yellow carrots, striped beets that have
concentric pink rings and a mild taste, and a squash that looks like a
medieval trumpet - long, thin, and curling back on itself as if nature had
second thoughts about this plant.

Buckets hold flowers so fragrant bees arrive, looking for pollen. In fact,
the bees might as well have their own stall, because not far away are jars
of New York City honey.

You're right. This is not the produce aisle of your local supermarket. It's
a walk on the "wild side" of fruits and vegetables. This is New York's Union
Square Greenmarket.

But, this could just as well be the Farmers' Market in Spokane, Wash., where
one grower sells 26 varieties of potatoes - without the common russet in
sight. Or, the Fondy Market in Milwaukee, where a salad mix can include
"pokeweed," that zesty green that helped many families make it through the
Great Depression.

For the farmer, it means better prices and no middlemen. For the consumer,
the attraction is simple: food so fresh, the morning dew may still be
glistening on a chocolate-colored eggplant. And, there's a good chance the
farmer or his wife has a special tip on how to keep the basil, often with
roots still attached, fresh for the week.

There's usually plenty of time in the market for the chitchat that helps tie
neighbor to neighbor, making the market part of the social fabric, not just
a series of vegetable stalls.

There must be something about it, because farmers' markets have grown as
fast as corn in August. According to the US Department of Agriculture, from
1994 to 2000, the number of markets increased 63 percent. There are now
about 2,800 markets with some 19,000 farmers selling their products.

"They are happening on their own, but we are interested in identifying as
many opportunities [as possible] for farmers to increase their farm
profitability and continue in the farming business," says Errol Bragg,
program manager for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

In Seattle, the growth has been phenomenal. In 1997, the markets had $5
million in sales. But, over the past few years, Puget Sounders have fallen
in love with their farmers markets, and last year bought $12 million in
produce. One market in the University District sells $50,000 worth of
produce - a lot for even the largest grocery store - every Saturday. "That's
a lot of lettuce," says Zachary Lyons, director of the Washington State
Farmers Market Association.

Communities now realize that a farmers' market can be a valuable tool for
urban renewal. "They help to stabilize neighborhoods and bring back economic
activity," says Nancey Green Leigh, a professor of city and regional
planning at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta.

That's certainly the case in Milwaukee, where farmers' markets have grown
from five to 12 markets in the past five years.

One of those markets, the Fondy Market, is in the poorest section of the
city. Now, Milwaukee's Hunger Task Force, which organizes the markets, is
planning to erect a year-round $5 million market in the predominately
African-American neighborhood.

For Fondy residents, the green market means lower prices. "They have been
underserved by traditional grocers," says Tim Locke, executive director of
the Fondy Food Center. "People are paying way too much for lower-quality
food."

However, in the past, neighborhood residents went to the grocery stores
because they could use food stamps, which now are delivered via a plastic
credit-card type of device. Mr. Locke says his market is working on a pilot
program to find ways to allow the use of food stamps at the market.

In recent years, the federal government has also tried to find ways to
encourage poor people and seniors to go to the markets. Now, under the
Department of Agriculture, low-income families can get WIC funds to buy
produce at the markets.

Although it requires some extra effort, farmers can do well at the markets.

In New York's Union Square, Mark Gillman of Cato Corner Farm says he sells
75 percent of his cheeses at farmers' markets. "It's allowed us to expand
from six cows to 27 cows in two years," says the Colchester, Conn., dairy
farmer.

Mr. Lyons recounts how last year some Washington State apple farmers were
losing money selling their produce to the packing houses. However, one
farmer started selling his apples at farmers' markets, at basically the full
retail price. "He figured if he only sold 10 percent of his crop and let the
rest rot on the trees, he would still turn a profit," says Lyons.

The farmers are also quick to catch on to shifts in consumer buying habits.
For example, the New York Greenmarket farmers have agreed to a moratorium on
using any genetically modified organisms until more information becomes
available.

Many farmers at the markets have signs up proclaiming themselves "organic."

And, some of the markets even police their members - that's the case with
the New York Greenmarket, which sends out inspectors to be sure farmers
aren't buying produce from Mexico or California and calling it their own.

Although farmers' markets continue to pop up in church parking lots and on
school playgrounds, the USDA's Mr. Bragg says whether a market is successful
depends on such factors as the number of potential customers and the
location of the market.

He also says one hindrance in some places is finding enough farmers who want
to participate. "What we've been seeing is a shortage of farmers," he says.
However, a spokesman for the department stresses that most markets are very
successful.

But there's no shortage of farmers at the grand eggplant of them all, the
Union Square Park in New York.

Four days of the week, anywhere up to 75 farmers from around the region
arrive at dawn with their truckloads of produce. Practically before she can
plug in her cash register, Suzi Dare of Cherry Lane Farms of Bridgeton,
N.J., has a customer. It's Stephen Strumza, purchasing manager for Ilo, a
new three-star restaurant.

"We have to support the East Coast farmers," he says as he buys a large bag
of lima beans.

Not long after the farmers have set up their tents, Joel Patraker, assistant
director of the Greenmarket, arrives with his two-way radio, cellphone, and
vast knowledge of what makes the market tick.

Yes, the restaurant business is important here - perhaps representing 10 to
15 percent of the sales - he says.

In fact, it's not hard to see the evidence of that. Just outside of Alex
Paffenroth's truck are large plastic bags filled with vegetables. On the
bags are the names of some of New York's tonier eateries: JUdson Grill,
Grammercy Tavern, and Tabla.

By 9 in the morning, Bill Telepan, the chef at JUdson Grill, has purchased
all of the black kale. He pulls some out of a bag.

"Look at those holes in the leaves," he says. "Those are from bugs, and that
means it hasn't been sprayed," he explains in a manner that indicates this
is a good sign. Mr. Telepan starts pulling vegetables out of his bags: There
are long green dandelion leaves, which will be used with skate and
chanterelles; purple kohlrabi that will go raw into a salad; fennel that
will end up with an octopus vinaigrette.

He pulls out some white beets and talks about how he uses the tops as well.
"It's like free product," he says with a grin.

"Not anymore," replies Paffenroth. "I'm charging for the tops as well."

The give and take is one of the reasons the chefs enjoy the market. They can
also find out in advance what's coming out of the ground and adjust their
menus.

Not far from the market, the City Bakery has a menu that is dominated by
food purchased at the Greenmarket. Chef Ilen Rosen says she has located the
popular restaurant in the area just to be near the market. "It's greatly
appreciated - it's what I live for," she says.

But, as Patraker is quick to point out, the Greenmarket is for everyone - no
matter what his or her economic status or culinary skill. That's one of the
reasons it has now expanded to 27 sites in the city.

On a typical summer or fall Saturday, he says there could be 50,000 to
75,000 people walking through the Union Square stalls. That market is now
included in tour books, so it's not unusual to see groups watching the way
New Yorkers react to farm produce.

"We don't have a village green in New York," Patraker says, "so there is a
lack of people coming together. The Greenmarket fills that role. There are
more smiles per square foot than anywhere else."

That's the case for Margaret Morth. She grew up in North Dakota, where her
family had a garden. Now, she lives in Brooklyn and has a fire escape on
which she grows plants. As she buys a pepper plant for her urban version of
a garden, she says, "I come here on my lunch hour - it's the way I commune
with nature."

Is farmers'-market produce really fresher?

Yes, the food is right off the farm. But, can you really tell the difference
between a peach that came off a tree in New Jersey and one that came off a
grocery-store shelf?

To try to answer that question, my wife and I visited the Union Square
Greenmarket located on West 77th Street in Manhattan and the Food Emporium,
an upscale grocery store about five blocks away. We bought tomatoes,
peaches, plums, and strawberries. Here's our unscientific review:

Visual observations: The fruit and vegetables from the Greenmarket have a
brightness that is not apparent in the grocery-store produce. The Food
Emporium peach is kind of gray looking. The strawberries, even though they
are Driscolls - top of the line California berries - look more orange than
red. The two tomatoes look comparable. The plum from the Greenmarket is
smaller and less evenly shaped.

The taste test: The tomato from the grocer is an import from Holland. It has
a tough skin but good acidity. The farmer's tomato has a mix of sweetness
and acidity. It makes the Dutch version seem like an imposter. The skin is
nonexistent compared to the Dutch tomato, which is bred to travel.

My wife thinks the grocery plum could be almost any fruit, perhaps a tart
apple. The Greenmarket plum is tart enough to bring tears to the eyes.

The peach from Food Emporium is mealy. Kathy says it has a "remote" peach
flavor. The Greenmarket peach drips with juice as soon as it is sliced open.
Kathy's only comment is "Mmm."

The Driscoll berries have a kind of "white wall" around the stem, but they
do taste like strawberries. But, up against the local berries, there is no
comparison. I can't stop eating them. "Stop, Ron, stop!"

Prices: Strawberries, plums, and peaches were cheaper at Food Emporium.
Tomatoes were less expensive at the Greenmarket