Farmers' Market or Walmart?
Jun 23, 2006 Jacqueline Church
Chew on this - according to the USDA in 2002 Farmers earned their lowest net cash income since 1940 while agribusiness profits nearly doubled since 1990. As Walmart announces its foray into the Organics market, our own Dewey Square farmers' market held its opening day. I spoke with the Jeff Cole Executive Director of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers' Markets this week as bricklayers were literally still placing the bricks under tents set up for the vendors.
An economist; a farmer; a pair of hands.
Jeff (both an economist and a farmer) uses the metaphor of a three-legged stool to explain the value of the public markets. Farmers reap higher profits in a very low margin business. Urban areas benefit from revitalized neighborhoods and increased sense of community. Consumers get face-to-face contact with growers and producers, fresh food and good information.
We spoke of the distance food travels to get to our plates, (in many cases 1,500 miles - see Well Traveled Tomatoes). We also spoke of the distance between food growers and producers and food consumers. In many urban areas, people can live their daily lives never seeing a working farm or tasting vine-ripened fruit, just-picked vegetables, rustic bread, or fresh herbs.
Commuters hustled by between the Financial District and the subway entrance, while we had a great conversation about the vision, values and benefits of farmers' markets here in Massachusetts. We had a great talk, that is, until another pair of hands was needed to help unload trucks and direct drivers.
Good food for thought and good food all around.
An equation in flux.
Americans, in general, place a very high value on cheap food. Many farmers have been driven out of business, many of those who continue to farm have other sources of income in order to sustain the life they choose. Yet, even as the mega-discounters enter the organics market, some consumers have begun to look at the question of "value" in new terms.
Shop at a large chain and send money overseas or buy direct from a grower and eat food picked that day? Agricultural policy is being examined with fresh eyes, too. Our own USDA reports that in 2004, the U.S. exported nearly $20 million worth of lettuce (over 3/4 of it grown in California) to Mexico. The same year, it imported $20 million worth of Mexican lettuce. Does this make sense?
What about the economic/social footprint of cheaper food? Do we count the environmental impact or public health costs (water/air pollution)? What about health hazards for farm workers? Corporate shareholder value often trumps safe or sustainable food production: antibiotics and other chemicals used in mass-market farms produce benefits for some, but at what cost?
Benefits all around.
Whatever one's opinions or priorities are on any of the social or economic issues, it is indisputable that locally grown farm product will be healthier and tastier. We get produce and other items picked or baked that day. In a public market we strike up conversations with people we might never meet otherwise. Particularly in emerging or neglected urban areas, the benefit of bringing healthy farm-fresh food to the city and creating a sense of community cannot be underestimated.
In my neighborhood, an historical district of loft residences, the only market space or established community nearby is Chinatown. For many non-Chinese residents, this probably seems no more accessible than a farm 30 miles outside the city.
Want Italian basil? Parsley, Bread? It means a hike to another neighborhood or a poor substitute delivered from the large supermarket. (I'll let you know when they address my complaints of rotten or unripe produce. Don't hold your breath.)
Want fresh produce, picked that morning? Your farmers' market is a fantastic resource. A local public market gives suburban commuters, urban residents and local farms a chance to support each other with benefits to all - immediate and long term.
Fresh from the farm produce, direct face-to-face contact with growers and producers. Lively urban community spaces. Using Jeff's metaphor of the three-legged stool (Farmers, Consumers and Communities) all win. From where I sit, it makes perfect sense!
Stay tuned for my article on edible flowers, including chive blossoms from the market.
See the recent LA Times article on community found through public markets. For an interesting window into an independent farm and its followers see No Bar Code Food.
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