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Farm Fresh: Shortening the route from the field to the table
The link between farmers and consumers has not always stretched across thousands of miles.
Before agriculture was agribusiness, if you didn't grow or raise the food you served to your family, you knew the farmer who did — outside the cities, at any rate.
Most people today buy their food from large grocery stores, where they are likely to wander down fluorescent-lit aisles, completely detached from the origin of their produce, dairy, and meat selections.
“I don’t think the consumer knows who the farmer is today,” said Fauquier County Supervisor Holder Trumbo, who owns the Marshall IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance).
Trumbo was one of five panelists to speak to this and other issues relating to the local farming community at a seminar dubbed “Farm to Consumer to Farm; Strengthening the Link,” held at Buchanan Hall in Upperville last Thursday.
Panelists also included Eric Plaskin of Waterpenny Farm, Rappahannock County; Pablo Elliott of Stoney Lonesome Farm, Prince William County; Katy Zurshmeide of Great Country Farms, Loudoun County, and Matt Benson of Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
The event was sponsored by Virginia Organic Producers and Consumers Association Ltd, a growing network and information resource for the Virginia organic community. The Piedmont area is a microcosm, demonstrating a national trend toward consumers increasingly seeking locally produced food.
“There's been a growth in demand as people have become aware of the benefits,” said Elliott. “The CSAs (community supported agriculture) are filling up. The farmer's markets get cleaned out.”
Elliott listed freshness and a close relationship with the producer as primary advantages of buying locally. “Consumers know where and how their food is grown, the story behind the production. This knowledge creates more accountability on the production side that will trend towards fresher, healthier and more flavorful food.”
However, as Trumbo pointed out, the increase in demand has also left many small-scale farmers juggling full-time farming with marketing, delivering, and packaging, an issue the small-scale local farming community is working to alleviate.
Local farmers are discovering how Internet technology can not only help reestablish their connection with consumers, but also make their jobs a little easier.
For instance, Tom Davenport of Hollin Farms in Delaplane, has created Farmfoody.org, a social networking Web site to connect farmers and their customers. Designed with demanding schedules in mind, the site allows farmers to create a profile, which Davenport said is much easier to set up and maintain than those found on other Web sites.
Additionally, farms can post bulletins that instantly alert friends, neighbors, and customers about whatever topic they choose. For instance, farmers can let buyers know when the strawberries are ready to pick. The site also includes "Frequently Asked Questions" so farmers won't have to spend hours on the phone explaining their programs.
The site will be especially useful to pick-your-own farms and orchards, vineyards, CSAs, farmer's markets, hay sellers, and others making direct sales to their customers, Davenport said.
“If a farmer can connect directly to the consumer, everyone wins,” said Shawn Sisson, of Mountain Airy Farms in Middleburg. “Farmers want that resource, that vehicle to reach their customers.”
Individuals are not the only ones hungry for locally produced food. “We're also trying to find a way to connect large-scale producers to large grocery stores, and institutions that need high volumes of food,” Elliott said.
Waterpenny Farm's Plaskin discussed the need for local produce to infiltrate the school lunch system. According to Plaskin, schools are required to buy the lowest-priced food they can, hence the abundance of food and drinks high in fructose corn syrup. The challenge in replacing that food with fresh, nutritious, locally grow fruits and vegetables lies in funding.
“It may mean convincing the county to raise property taxes just so our kids can eat carrots instead of [drinking] Coke,” Plaskin said.
Given the emerging strength of the eat local movement, there are great and increasing opportunities for Fauquier farmers, the panelists agreed. While the growth of small-scale local food production has paralleled individual demand for locally produced food, demand from large-scale consumers, such as grocery stores and schools, is exceeding the supply generated by local large-scale producers. "We're looking for the next generation of food producers," Elliott said.
E-mail the reporter: kalm@timespapers.com
I think local grocery stores need to hear from consumers that they want local options in the stores. There are lots of local efforts going on, but I think there should also be someone working on organizing consumers to demand local foods from the grocery stores.
Posted by B_Julie_Emery
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