Farmers' Market to offer locally grown produce

Fast food, pizza delivery and microwave ovens are common staples of today's American diet.\nAs a result, home-grown produce and organic foods are often high in price and much in demand.\nSo for Hoosiers wishing to obtain fresh, locally grown foods, the Bloomington Community Farmers' Market offers residents, students and guests a chance to buy tasty treats and neighborhood goodies from the hands that grow them. The market opened April 2, but as summer approaches more and more items become available. \n"Everything you sell at the market you have to produce," said Dave Vadas, a bee farmer and Farmer's Market vendor.\nVadas said he believes the Bloomington market is rated as the biggest and best in the state. \nOnly farmers can sell products at the market, which often features fruits, vegetables, meat and honey. Hoosiers can even buy plants to start their own gardens. \nThe Farmers' Market is open 7 a.m. to noon every Saturday throughout the spring and summer in the City Hall parking lot. \nBuying food from the market puts fewer hands between the grower and the buyer. \nPeople like to buy food at the market because "they know where the product comes from," Tim Tague said. Tague raises deer and elk.\nSome people stayed away from the market Saturday because of the cold weather, but local farmer Randy Stout sold everything he brought except for a few eggs and onions. He started out with carrots, spinach, cabbage and broccoli, all of which were just picked Friday. \n"Old produce is (only) 48 hours old down here," Stout said.\nA lot of the food at the market is organically-produced. \nBecause Bloomington is a very health-oriented community, he said he believes organic food attracts a lot of people to the market.\nThe Farmer's Market is also a good way for smaller farmers to sell their food. \nGrocery stores don't pay well, and a farmer has to grow a large amount of crops to sell to them, Stout said. He estimates his Bloomington market sales account for 20 to 25 percent of his business.\nVadas brought five different varieties of honey to the market: locus, light mild and three different wildflower flavors -- spring, summer and fall. \nThe different flavors come from the type of flowers around the beehive and the time of year, he said.\nHe operates about 200 beehives spread around three counties in Indiana. \n"Some of the honeys in stores are produced in other countries, and they are blends. These are pure honeys," he said. \nTague sells a full line of buffalo, elk and venison meats. He owns about 40 elk, and he gets buffalo from other local farmers.\nTague said all of his animals graze naturally, and he does not give his animals any hormones. \nHe said some farmers use growth hormones and steroids to accelerate the aging process. \nNaturally grazed animals are lower in calories and saturated fat and are higher in protein than other animals, Tague said.\nBloomington resident Jason Winningham said he likes to shop at the market instead of large grocery stores to "keep the money close to home." \nHe would rather grow his own food, but he is still working on that, he said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Ben Woodson at bwoodson@indiana.edu.