This past Saturday was the first of the season’s Farmer’s Market. Local farmers, restaurants and other vendors sell items in Showers Common each Saturday in April through November.
“It definitely feels good to be back out here and have the community support,” said Earth Song Farm owner Rosie Sill from behind her rows of green and leafy vegetables. “I think it’s really important for people to have a connection with their foods and a relationship with the people who grow their food.”
It does seem many locals have gotten to know the farmers. They greet each other by name and ask about family members. But the strong community isn’t the only thing shoppers get out of the experience.
“Eating in season is better for you and it’s better for the environment,” Sill said. “You can’t get fresher or healthier food anywhere else but a farmers’ market.”
The environmental effects of eating local are numerous. The average meal eaten in America has to travel 1,500 miles before it makes its way onto a plate, according to the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture.
Most of the vendors at the Bloomington farmers’ market, however, come from within Bloomington or from neighboring towns. It is required that all vendors are at least Indiana residents.
The foods at the market also come from small farms, which aren’t nearly as bad for soil health. Most large farms do not give the soil enough time and nutrients to remain healthy. It ends up eroding and being unsuitable for plants to grow without the help of steroids. According to a 2006 study from Cornell University, the loss of soil and water from United States cropland costs the farming industry around $37.6 billion every year.
It’s true that organic and locally grown foods typically cost a little bit more than the items one can find at a chain grocery store, but customers say it’s well worth it.
“I think we hide the real prices from ourselves,” said Kathy Rountree, a resident of Nashville, Ind. “We hide the labor prices in the foods produced from slave labor and the environmental prices. It’s a lot more honest to just come here and pay the real cost.”
Aside from all of the consumer benefits, the vendors also benefit from a more personal market experience.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American farmer receives only 15.8 cents of every dollar people spend on food at the grocery store. At farmers’ markets, there are no marketing, processing or retailing costs, and the entire dollar goes back to the farmers and back into the local economy.
“Nursing Mother Nature can also come right back and nurse you,” said Mecie Delffs, an apprentice at Living Roots Ecovillage. “It’s so satisfying to have your hands in the dirt one month and then sit down at the table a month later with food. It actually blows my mind sometimes.”
The vendors are all happy to discuss the process that goes into creating their products, and most welcome shoppers to come visit the actual farms.
Aaron Pollitt, the owner of Lost Woods Farm, brought along the logs that he was growing shitake mushrooms on. A cluster of people gathered as he explained how he drills holes in the logs and inserts the spores into the holes. Mushrooms don’t grow from seeds, he said.
“You prepare your food in a different way when you know where and who it’s coming from,” IU senior Anna Hashizume said. “When you know that it was created with love, it just tastes better than when you have to unwrap your food from a bunch of packaging.”
