If you walk down the street in Lawrence, you’re bound to run into a locavore — but don’t be frightened, locavores don’t eat locals. They are merely participants in the local food movement gaining momentum nationally.
You might wonder what local food movement means: For one thing, it is part of the larger sustainability movement. It’s a shift from the corporate model of industrialized agriculture where much of the quality lies in the hands of the middleman to a focus on self-sufficient production and consumption of local food where the potential benefits lie in the local economy.
“This is a movement towards community and connection to the place where people live and to their neighbors,” says Rhonda Janke, associate professor of alternative crops at Kansas State University. And now, more than ever, communities are banding together to take back control of their quality of life.
Instead of fast food, it’s about proximity. With far fewer miles from the production field to dinner plate, it makes ecological sense. Instead of eating produce that’s been shipped in from who knows where or grown under who knows what conditions, people want to know their food and know the farmer. They are opting out of buying bar codes from big business in favor of investing in produce grown by people in their own communities.
One of the ways communities in Kansas fight back can be seen in the growth of famers’ markets across the state. There has been a dramatic increase in farmers’ markets over the past 24 years according to the Farmers’ Market organization website. In 1987, Kansas was home to 26 farmers markets. Today that number has almost quadrupled to the current census of 101 markets statewide.
And the number of markets nationally has exploded, too. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, between 1994 and 2010 the number of farmers’ markets recorded in the United States has more than tripled from 1,755 to 6,132 and from 2009 to 2010 alone the National Farmers’ Market Directory marked a 16 percent growth.
"Seeing such continued strong growth in the number of U.S. farmers markets indicates that regional food systems can provide great economic, social, and health benefits to communities across the country,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a news release.
The Lawrence Farmers’ market is ahead of the curve, says Tom Buller, market coordinator. The market is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year with more than 90 vendors — more than ever before — selling everything from gooseberry plants and stout-flavored cup cakes to eggplants and emu oil. So far, says Buller, this market season, which stretches from the second Saturday in April to the third Saturday in November, is shaping up to be one of the best on record.
The reasons that people come to the local food movement are as varied as the products you can find at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market.
One of the main benefits of buying locally is the environmental implication, said Eileen Horn, sustainability coordinator for the city of Lawrence and Douglas County and member of the Douglas Food Policy Council. Many producers have adopted sustainable farming practices. Aside from that, there are fewer “food miles” from farm to plate. In the traditional agriculture system, most of the fruits and vegetables are trucked in from places like California and Florida.
It’s also about consumer awareness according to Jennifer Smith, horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension in Douglas County. “Freshness and quality is a huge thing. People are starting to think about where their food is coming from and how it’s grown,” said Smith.
It’s no secret that you can find quality food close to home.
“There’s a demand for locally grown food. People want that kind of product because it’s fresher,” said Jim Fisher of Checkers grocery store in Lawrence.
But people aren’t just hungry for fresh, quality food; they’re craving connection. “Farmers’ markets bring people together. They have an opportunity to have a relationship with the people that are growing their food and that’s important,” says Mercedes Taylor-Puckett, project coordinator for Kansas Rural Center. The Kansas Rural Center is a nonprofit organization that promotes the health of farmland through research, education and advocacy.
Al Pendleton, 87, has been coming to socialize at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market for more than 20 years. It’s become a weekly ritual to pick up the pie he reserves with Clark Family Farms. “I live towards Saturday,” says Pendleton. “I just love to come here and visit with everybody.”
The Saturday market will run from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. through the end of September. In October, the hours shift from 8 a.m. to noon. The Saturday market ends on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Both the Tuesday market, on the 1000 block of Vermont Street, and the Thursday market, 4932 W. Sixth St., are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and run from the first week of May to the end of October.
When it comes down to it, Ann Merkel, who has been selling emu products at the Farmer’s Market since 2000 perhaps said it best, “I think it’s important to support all local businesses. If we don’t look after our own, who’s going to look after us?”