By Mark Sommerhauser,
quotes Mary Hendrickson, PhD
The Fulton Sun
May 14, 2004
Online at: http://www.fultonsun.com/articles/2004/05/14/news/235news02.prt
Tammy Sellmeyer
inspects the spread of vegetables she is peddling beneath a gazebo at the
Fulton Farmer's Market.
The display includes
white turnips, bright-red radishes and glistening green lettuce.
"It's been
picked today," she said, "and you can't get any fresher than
that."
A recent study by the
Missouri Department of Agriculture indicates that more Missourians are choosing
to spend their money at farmer's markets and roadside stands. Sellmeyer is one
of several local merchants poised to reap the benefits.
She described her
business Wednesday afternoon as "really good."
The new survey,
sponsored by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the University of
Missouri Commercial Agriculture Program, reflects some significant shifts in
how Missourians make food purchases. A principal change it observed was an 8
percent increase, to 32 percent, of the number of Missourians who shop at
farmer's markets.
The survey spanned a
nine-year period, from 1995 to the present.
Mary Hendrickson, a
rural sociologist at the University of Missouri, said that taste and quality
are the top reasons people are starting to purchase more locally produced food.
Sellmeyer agreed with
this assessment.
"Our food just
tastes better, especially when things start to come in season," she said.
Hendrickson said that
more Missourians also are concerned about the methods and practices used to
grow and handle their food. She finds farmer's markets to be suitable venues
for them to ask detailed questions about the food they are purchasing.
"They can really
trust it because they know who grew it," Hendrickson said. "They want
to ask a lot of questions about their food, and they want to know where it came
from."
Ashley Ernst, vice
president of the board of the Columbia Farmer's Market, attributed the
burgeoning success of farmer's markets to "a growing consumer awareness of
food production."
"Our merchants
get some very intelligent questions about how we've raised our food,"
Ernst said.
Columbia Farmer's
Market President Guy Clark said his market had seen an increase in commerce of
"at least 50 percent" since he became involved in 1993.
He said the Columbia
community had begun to support the farmer's market because of a growing concern
about where they spend their consumer dollars.
"The money they
spend at a farmer's market stays in the community, rather than going off to a
corporation," he said.
The Columbia market,
Clark said, does a bustling business during the upcoming summer growing season.
It accomodates between 2,500 and 3,000 shoppers on a midsummer Saturday, he
said, and routinely features more than 50 merchants.
Fulton's market is a
considerably more modest affair. Sellmeyer said the market usually features
five or six merchants on Saturdays at its present location at 6th and Market
Street.
Sellmeyer, the
president of the organization, said the market members are focusing on a new
promotion this year that they hope will spur greater interest from local
consumers.
The market will hold
a drawing, with participants culled from shoppers who sign up at the market,
that will feature a variety basket of products from participating vendors.
Sellmeyer's stand
features fare ranging from fresh vegetables to canned pickles and salsa, to
baked goods. She said that some vendors, however, focus on a certain product,
such as tomatoes or sweet corn.
She said she hopes
local consumers will join a statewide movement by consumers to support
small-scale, local food growers.
"We're just
trying to get the word out," she said.