Lower prices drive renewed interest in farmers' markets
Consumers seek bargains and homegrown quality
“Is this grown locally?” That’s the question that farmers’ market vendors around Western New York are hearing more and more these days.
“The interest in farmers’ markets is a national phenomenon,” said Diane Eggert, executive director of the Farmers’ Market Federation of New York. Eggert credits the increase not only to people who want to support the local economy, but also to those who want to feel safer about the food they’re buying.
And most important for some in these inflationary times — when the price of food seems to be skyrocketing as quickly as gasoline — is that farmers’ markets often charge less than supermarkets.
A head of iceberg lettuce at a local market could be found recently for as little as 75 cents. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average head of lettuce was priced at $1.14 last week in supermarkets.
Asparagus is in season and could be found selling at $2 a bunch from local growers. Retail prices in the Northeast range from $1.99 to $3.99, with the average bunch selling for $2.28. Navel oranges — the Northeast price unvailable — averaged 43 cents apiece nationally, but at local farmers’ markets they could be found for as little as six oranges for $1.
“It very well could be with increasing food prices and that kind of thing that people are much more interested in shopping locally,” said Walt Hofmann, of Hazelmere Produce in Machias, who sells his produce at the East Aurora Farmers Market.
“We’re usually cheaper — not by a lot — but we usually are,” said Iris Tower, the wife of a farmer.
Astor Davenport, of Buffalo, was a first-time shopper at the Clinton-Bailey Market and was drawn in by the pink petunias he has been looking for. “I’m always looking for the best deals,” Davenport said. In addition to his petunias, he bought a miniature watermelon for his wife for $4.
“I probably saved myself a buck,” said Davenport, referring to the higher-cost miniature melons he had seen in the stores. The average miniature watermelon in the Northeast is $4.37.
“Those [petunias] usually run for $15, and I got them for $12,” Davenport said.
How do these markets keep their prices below average?
The major reason the Clinton-Bailey Market is able to keep its produce below average is the low overhead cost.
“I have no gas, no electric, no utilities. It’s the first and foremost reason,“ said Paul Desiderio, owner of the market.
As a result, Desiderio said, he marks his produce up, on average, 35 to 40 percent, whereas the supermarkets are considerably more.
And when the produce is local, Desiderio doesn’t have to worry much about the freight cost because he deals directly with the farmer.
“In homegrown there’s a lot less freight involved,” Desiderio said.
Amy Kedron, the founding director of Buffalo First, an organization that encourages shopping locally, said the average plate of food in America travels more than 1,500 miles before reaching diners’ forks. With the price of gasoline lately, that distance adds to the cost of everything, whether it is citrus shipped from Florida or corn trucked from rural Erie County.
John Parise, manager of the Clinton-Bailey Market, said he has seen an increase in sales, which he attributes to customer interest in buying locally and the rising cost of gas.
“I certainly hear it from a lot of people saying, ‘You know, you’re in the area, you’re close to home, your stuff is grown locally,’ ” Parise said.
And — with widely publicized health alerts targeting tomatoes for salmonella and spinach for E. coli— consumers are more concerned about how and where their food is grown.
Another issue of concern is pesticides.
Local farmers generally said they use pesticides sparingly, which is what customers have come to expect.
Margaret Zagrobelny, who shops at East Aurora Farmers Market, said she doubts that local farmers have enough money to put many chemicals on their produce.
“If you’ve read ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma´ you know they aren’t good for you,” Zagrobelny said.
The high cost of pesticides is one reason Dan Tower Farm in Youngstown is considered a low-spray farm.
“I’d like to say it’s because we are concerned for the environment, to some degree, but it’s more financial,” said Dan Tower.
Intimacy is another plus for the local markets.
Eggert of the Farmers’ Market Federation added, “[Customers] can ask questions and feel connected to the people growing their food. “They don’t get that when they go to a supermarket.” Customers also said they feel that what they buy is fresher.
Jeff and Justine Morris of Elma said they go to the East Aurora Farmers Market to support local farmers and enjoy the atmosphere, but those aren’t their only reasons. “[The produce is] better. It’s fresher,” Justine Morris said.
Tower said, “It doesn’t have to travel as far, especially with the way the gas is right now.”
“Where else can you get the best potatoes?” said Victoria Wojciechowski, who buys spuds grown and sold in Alden, where she lives.
Wojciechowski, 65, prefers to buy locally to support the “little businessman.”
Her father, who owned a grocery, was a “little businessman,” too. “I guess it’s in my blood,” she added.
Parise said shopping locally is a win-win situation for everyone. “It’s a win for the community. It’s a win for the growers. It’s a win for the customers,” Parise said. “Everybody wins.”
“If you spend money at the farmers’ market for a head of lettuce that money goes straight to the farmer,” Kedron added.
And if you buy it at the store, Kedron said, “most of the money that you’re spending will go back to corporate headquarters, which is not in New York or Buffalo.”
