A chat with Michael Schenk

My Q and A, in podcast form, can be found here. 

How the government is supporting local farming

The U.S. government has many initiatives in place to further the scope of many local farmers. One of these initiatives is the Agricultural Marketing Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that concentrates on the "efficient, fair marketing of U.S. agricultural products, including food, fiber, and specialty crops," according to its site. 

Among some of its duties, this branch of the USDA is responsible for organizing the transportation for agriculture, fair trading regulations and, especially relevant, wholesale and farmers markets. 

In that last respect, the Agricultural Marketing Service can be invaluable to anyone interested in local food and farmers markets. 

The site has educational resources that perform a multitude of helpful tasks. Marketing Channel Research and Development collects information that helps agricultural producers connect with commercial buyers, much like a site I've mentioned before. 

Marketing Information and Education helps farmers learn about how to market their products to outside parties. This is the type of information that allows local farming to grow and become a larger part of a community. 

Especially important is the grant resources available at the site. The Farmers Market Promotion Program helps establish, expand and promote local farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer economic models. 

The Federal State Marketing Improvement Program provides matching funds to state agricultural entities who are looking for new ways to market U.S. agricultural goods, and "to encourage research and innovation aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of the U.S. marketing system," according to the site.

The site also has design information on how to construct or re-design a local market. Issues discussed include market analysis, building cost study, location analysis, energy efficiency and post-harvest handling, among other considerations. Although these are things that are taken for granted every week as customers walk down the aisles of the Athens Farmers Market, someone has to organize the semantics of such a huge operation. Even relatively simple operations require a huge amount of work, and this site tries to make that work just a little more bearable for those trying to offer great, local food to consumers.

Some of the best food to get in June

Now that May is at an end and June is ready for its annual run-around, let's take a look at some of the fruits and vegetables that are at their prime come this time every year:

Apricots

These little guys are packed with vitamins A and C and easy to carry around anywhere. Most of the year they are imported from either South America or New Zealand, so if you see any around the farmers market, don't hesitate to grab a bundle while they are still good. 

Blueberries

If there is one fruit that can be considered "the best" for you, blueberries are the ones, in my opinion. With heaps of vitamins A and C, dietary fiber and manganese. And when you choose blueberries, you don't have to drink your green tea for the day either because this fruit is brimming with antioxidant goodness. And according to tests, blueberries can defend your brain from such age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia. 

                     Corn

We still haven't thanked the early American Indians about introducing our ancestors to corn have we? Well, I'm here to officially thank them. This vegetable is ripe for the picking come June, and after reading how good it is for you, it's no surprise that corn is one of America's most well-known cash crops. Vitamins B1, B5 and C are all present in huge amounts in this great-tasting vegetable. Dietary fiber and phosphorous also are in this food. Folate, which is a huge part of corn, can help reduce heart disease as well as colon cancer. 

Watermelon

Ah watermelon, the quintessential summer food. And it is ripe just as the hot June air begins to flood Athens and students get antsy for the end of spring quarter. Packed with vitamins A, C, B1 and B6, this juicy fruit can be a snack that no one should mind eating all day. Men especially can find another reason to love this fruit: It helps fight prostate cancer. 

These fruits and veggies are great to have any time, but when they are in season it makes them so much better. Keep a look out for them the next time you're in your local farmers market.

Mapping out southeast Ohio's fresh food havens

View Ohio Farmers Markets in a larger map

A local take on local food

Bob O'Neal is the co-owner of Della Zona, a local brick oven pizza restaurant located on East State street. Along with his business partner Christine Hughes, O'Neal operates not only Della Zona but Village Bakery as well. 

Both restaurants specialize in using locally-grown organic  foods almost exclusively. By doing this, O'Neal explains, he is not only supporting the local economy, but offering food that is more healthful than most other restaurants. 

"There is no alternative for me," O'Neal said. The act of choosing local, organic food is very simple once you realize the facts of the situation, he said. O'Neal cited the use of chemicals and "slave labor" by food producers around the world as reasons why he uses as few non-local food producers as possible.

"There is the health crisis, which is directly related to the food that people are eating today," O'Neal said. Many producers use inhumane methods to create their food because it is cheap, even though those methods are not healthful for people who eat the food,  he said. 

O'Neal instead buys his vegetables, milk and meats from local sustainable farms. These farmers do not use harsh pesticides on plants or give steroids to animals, he said. Instead, these farmers utilize reusable composting methods and ecologically sound farming practices that produce better food, he said. 

Della Zona uses food from farms and farmers that we know, O'Neal said. "We know that it's healthy," he said.

O'Neal said that he works with local farmers to make sure that they are producing food that lives up to his high expectations of sustainability and healthfulness. Of course as a restaurant owner, O'Neal must make sure that he has enough product to satisfy his customer's cravings. In this capacity, he works with local producers to procure enough of a year's yield to ensure that he will have enough vegetables and meats to last the year, especially when certain necessary vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, are not in season. 

O'Neal said that even though he goes to great lengths to find the perfect food to make his pizzas with, certain foods just cannot be found in Ohio, so he must go elsewhere. Olive oil and artichokes are two things that we get from outside ohio, he said. But the artichokes are organic, at least, he said. 

O'Neal said that there is a thriving local food initiative among students in Athens, but it is difficult sometimes for undergrads who are living in the dorms to cook their own food, especially considering they must eat dining hall food the first two years of college.

Below is an interview conducted by Athens F.M. with Mr. O'Neal. In it, this local foodie discusses everything from local farms to Ohio University students to maple-roasted rhubarb.

Study shows farmers market's are on the rise

A study done by Allison Brown shows that, despite the fact that farmers markets are no longer the main source of sustenance for people in small and large towns alike, they have grown in number for the past 30 years.

Between 1970 and 1986, writes Brown, farmers markets grew at an estimated rate of 500 percent, according to one source. One main reason for this, according to the report, is the passage of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976.

In a previous post, I mentioned that the Athens Farmers Market was established in the summer of 1972. That means that the AFM was part of that estimated 500 percent increase.

Brown goes on to say that farmers markets, like almost every thing else, seem to go through times of growth and decline. In the end, however, as can be seen by Brown's research, the aggregate amount of farmers markets appear to grow over time.

This is a very good outlook for all farmers markets, but more importantly for a market in a small, rural area whose residents do not always have a large amount of disposable income. And, as was noted in a previous post, Athens farmers market has seen a huge growth since its quaint beginnings, which also mirrors the national trend.

An interesting and often-discussed issue regarding this, however, is that much of the market's possible customer base is on a rotating basis. As mentioned in earlier posts, students are a huge, untapped customer base for the market, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to get a consistent flow of student buyers because, after four or five years, they are all gone and replaced with a whole new group of students who must be wooed 

he offerings of the market. That is another reason why this blog is important. It is a link to past students, as well as current and soon-to-be students to become accustomed to the wonders of the farmers market.

The photo was provided by Creative Commons image search.

Review: LocalHarvest.org is a site for sore eyes

Now here is a Web page that a few news sites could learn a lesson from. LocalHarvest.org is, according to its "About Us" page, "America's #1 organic and local foods website." The site promotes small farmers creating a "nationwide directory of small farms, farmers markets, and other local food sources." 

Although this site does a great job promoting local food sources and expanding the selling power of small growers, some might argue that other sites do the same thing just as well. What's so special about this site, they might ask. Well, to answer that question and to get back to my point of how some news sites could learn a thing or two from LocalHarvest.org, I will show you a quick screenshot of the homepage:

Now let's take a closer look:

That is an interactive map of all the small farms, farmers markets, restaurants, grocery stores and others that have registered with the site. You can click on the map to get a closer look, or you can search by name/description/product or by zip, city or state. 

Furthermore, the site hosts forums, issues a newsletter, hosts blogs and touts a massive photo gallery with pictures from around the United States. 

Additionally, the site has a store where growers from around the nation can come to sell their products through an electronic supermarket.  Eggs, herbs and even soaps can be bought directly from the producers via the Web site. 

What LocalHarvest.org does that makes it stand above the rest is it connects like-minded individuals, whom otherwise never would have met, through an interactive social-networking site geared toward local food enthusiasts. They can meet and network amongst one another to help expand the demand and breadth of local foods and products. 

One criticism, though: There is an enormous maw of nothingness at the bottom of every page. It is noticeable, especially when you scroll down the screen and are suddenly staring a completely blank page. Also, there are some small grammatical errors on the site. Most people would not recognize the errors, but as a journalist I pick up on them. 

There are no videos, either, which I was disappointed to see. It certainly would have added another aspect to the site. Pictures can only do so much. A few videos thrown into the "Photos" section (and a name change from "Photos" to "Photos and Videos") and there could be a whole new angle from which to see farmers markets and small farms from. 

The site is a great find, and it is recommended for anyone interested in local products and connecting with others around the nation.  

Market Expo

Mom's Weekend 2009

Eight reasons to ditch Walmart and eat local

1.) Local food is fresh. 

When you buy fruit and vegetables from grocery stores, you can almost guarantee that the food was picked at least a week ahead of time, if not more. Even if the store has a "local" section, the food

 has more than likely been sitting on the shelves or in storage for days. When you buy at a farmers market, though, you can tell that the fruit and vegetables were recently picked and the bread was freshly baked.

2.) Local foods are seasonal.

You can buy almost any fruit or vegetable at a grocer no matter what time of the year it is. That's because those fruits and vegetables are grown in either different areas of the country or in different countries all together and shipped in to Ohio, for instance, during the winter when certain plants don't grow. Local markets, however, only provide foods that are in season. You can tell the difference between fruit that has been shipped from across the world and fruit that is seasonally ripe and just picked from the tree.

3.) Local foods are "greener."

It takes a lot of gas to ship those potatoes from Idaho to Ohio. And that is only adding to the already crippling strain on the environment. Some local farmers practice sustainable growing

, leaving a negligible carbon footprint behind. And even if a farmer doesn't "farm green," most vendors drive less than an hour to get their products to the market, which is much shorter than it takes for those 'taters to get here. 

4.)  Farmland = Less emissions.

The more farmland there is being used to provide food to the surrounding community, the less development there will be. This means more "green space," or land that is not used to contribute to global warming. This is a good thing. 

5.) Local foods are safer.

The fewer people that are between you and your food the better. And I'm not just talking about the other people gath

ered around the dinner table. For the most part, local foods are handled by the farmer/vendor/butcher/etc. and his or her workers, and that's about it. Other places may have five, ten, twenty different people handling the food in seven different cities around the globe. When you know where your food has been, you know, for the most part, how safe it is. For example, during the e. coli outbreak that affected spinach, if you had bought spinach from a national retailer you could never really know if that spinach was good to eat. If you had boughten the spinach locally, however, you would have know right off the bat whether the spinach you had in your fridge was contaminated or not.

6.) Local foods help support the local economy.

Buying local means the money will stay in the community. With other vendors, money may be trickling out four different directions, and all of them away from Athens. In a poor county such as Athens, it is important to support your neighbors, even if you will only know them for four years. 

7.) Buying local promotes food variety.

When you go to Walmart, how many types of apples can be chosen from? Two, three, four tops? At local markets, there is a wider variety of every food. Instead of thinking just in terms of grape and strawberry jelly, what if you could try apple jelly? Or even a mix of grape and strawberry? These things can be found at farmers markets, and it opens up a completely new way of thinking when it comes to variety in food choices.

And finally...

8.) Local foods create community.

As I've endlessly crowed about in this blog, community is a huge element of the identity of farmers markets. Instead of having blind faith to a single, faceless food conglomerate, go down to the farmers market and talk to the people who work day in and day out to put food on people's tables. They'll be glad to talk about why their food is great, and they'll appreciate the consideration and interest.

The preceding list was paraphrased from About.com. 

The photos are all from Flickr. Citation in order from top to bottom: Jazzylolo, Alltrain43

A One-of-a-Kind History

In the early '70s, there was talk amongst local farmers that Athens ought to have a farmers market. After setting up shop in metered spots on Court street to sell their goods, these local farmers were told by the city move elsewhere. John Millar, a district conservationist in Athens at the time, was put in charge with finding a suitable, permanent place for Athens' new farmers market. Many places were offered, including the county fairgrounds, but Millar and the others chose the East State Street Park and Recreation area. Bylaws were drafted, and it was decided, like many other farmers markets, that only producers of t

he products would be able to sell their goods at the market. 

With the official thumbs-up from Athens' mayor at the time, Donald Barrett, the market began selling its products to the surrounding community on "a summer day in 1972," according 

to the Athens Farmers Market Web site. The market was to be held Saturdays at 10 a.m. from April to Thanksgiving at the East State Street City Park, on a paved lot near the tennis courts. 

Ten years after the market first offered its produce to outsiders, it was moved to a new parking area that was closer to East State street. As the market grew in size and clout, more producers chose to sell their products through the once-weekly market (or twice, depending on what time of year you are going).

The market made a dra

stic change when in 1995 it was decided that the market should stay open year round. Also, the city passed a levy that would allow for the creation of a community center that would take up the space that was, at the time, being used to host the market. 

In 1998, the managers of the farmers market were allowed to relocate to the University Mall parking lot. The new location allowed for more producer stalls and wider aisles for customers to walk through. Also, it naturally allowed for more traffic flow because of the added space for customers to park their cars, which used to be a problem for the market at its previous location because the community center lacked adequate parking. 

In 2004, to boost attendance from campus and up-town residents, the city held a Sunday morning market downtown once a month. But with lackluster attendance, the promotional market was ended in after one year. 

In 2006, market managers outlined a plan to develop a permanent pavilion at which the market would be hosted weekly. The plans foiled, however, after the owners of University Mall pulled out of negotiations. According to AFM's Web site, the market was set to move back to its beginnings in the community center parking lot in 2008, but to this day the market continues to be held in the University Mall parking lot, serving the community from its home on East State street.

The preceding history was condensed from information on the Athens Farmers Market Web site. 

The two pictures are from Flickr. The first one is of some vegetables at the Farmers Market in Jackson, Miss., and it is by NatalieMaynor. The second photo is from the San Francisco Public Library's online photo archive. It depicts the San Francisco farmers market on its 10th anniversary in 1953.  

Blog Review: AthensFarmersMarket.blogspot.com

Today I am reviewing the blog Athens Farmers Market. It is another Blogger site written and run by Sarah Conley, the manager of the Athens Farmers Market. This blog has some great content. Looking through some of the more recent posts I noticed recipes, announcements from the vendors and management, guest blogs and some multimedia content such as recordings and pictures.

It think the mission of the blog is to relay information from management to customers. What sorts of products are available this weekend? What are some upcoming events that will be hosted by the market? This blog answers those questions, and it does a fine job at. But also it is just a great resource for anyone interested in the motivating aspects of a farmers markets everywhere including the sustainability of the local economy, the growth and preparation of healthy and uncontaminated foods and 

One noticeable caveat, however, is the fact that the site doesn't have any videos. I find video to be one of the most explicit ways to capture the personality of place without actually being there. This site doesn't do that, and I think that is a huge pitfall that a lot of blogs fall in to. 

This might be too nit-picky, but I would like to see the site hosted outside of Blogger. I know the farmers market is a not-for-profit entity, but I think to further its professional reputation, the domain name should be bought (if it isn't already taken) and a stand-alone Web site should be erected in the mold of what has already been established at the blog.

The blog also should try to garner more of a community feel. What I mean by that is they should encourage visitors to the site to post comments about not only the posts, but the farmers market in general. What could they do better? What sort of foods do customers want to see or see more of? Most of the posts have no comments, and the ones that do have one or two. There is little discussion on the site, which either means people don't visit the blog much, or the people who do visit the site don't feel comfortable enough posting. Either way, something needs to change. Dialogue is key to any blog, and even more so with community-based sites, which this one very much is. I think that a lot of people would be interested in airing out their thoughts and ideas on this blog, and it could further the sense of camaraderie and conversation that is so prevalent at the physical market. 

That being said, the site does provide an interesting and informative view on the market. There is a link to the site in the blogroll on the sidebar of the page. 

Athens F.M. Video

This is a great video of the Athens Farmers Market. I couldn't think of a better way to introduce non-visitors to the market than to show exactly what it is like in moving-picture format.

This video showcases some of the best parts of the weekly festivities. The music, one of the most distinctive aspects of the Market, lends the backdrop to the scene. The panning image of an empty parking lot quickly becomes crowded with people and cars. The video shows vendors preparing for the hoards of people to descend on University Mall. David Gutknecht, the man in the yellow vest and former manager of the Market, rings the bell to officially commence the extravaganza. People parade in, snatching up the best that the Market has to offer while they still can.

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There is much more to the video, and I advise all to have a look. Overall, though, for those who have not visited the market, I don't think there is anything better than a video to accustom one's self to an unfamiliar place. The video is like an enticing sample of the real thing. It truly does get you in the mood to visit this place. One gets to see some of the great people (and characters) who visit the market. The video also is a great introduction to the vast variety of food that is offered at the market.

The video portrays a side of Athens' culture that most students don't see. The vendors in the video and a majority of the customers are "townies," folks who live in Athens year round as opposed to only nine months. There is a vivid disconnect between the locals and most Ohio University students who consider Athens nothing more than a four-year stop on the railroad of life that ends at bigger and better places. Why this happens is beyond the scope of this discussion, but time should be taken to experience one's cultural surroundings, especially when that culture is as unique, emotive and downright inspiring as Appalachian culture. That culture can be found at Athens Farmers Market.

The video was found on YouTube. It was produced by Stan Alost, Assistant Director of Ohio University's School of Visual Communication.

Welcome to Athens F.M.

Hello all, and welcome to Athens F.M. a place for those new to the Athens Farmers Market. Athens is a small town ripe with culture. Housing Ohio University, this community an hour and a half southeast of Columbus prides itself on its Appalachian heritage, home-grown aura and neighborly demeanor. Nowhere else can those characteristics be more tangibly felt than at Athens Farmers Market. Bundled in the close-knit quarters of the University Mall parking lot on E. State Street, hundreds of visitors snake past the vendors every Saturday morning, considering the newest offering of fruits, vegetables and breads from local growers. Local musicians fill the air regional tunes for shoppers to tap their foot to. Many regulars just go there to talk and catch up on recent events their respective lives. There is no one reason why so many return week in and week out. The pull of the market for every person is as unique as its visitors. 

Although many local residents know of the Athens Farmers Market and visit it regularly, not as many Ohio University students are aware of its existence, let alone shop at it. I was one of those students until recently. But after experiencing the Athens Farmers Market in all of its gastronomical glory, I believe that I must alleviate the problem by introducing more OU students to all that the Athens Farmers Market has to offer. So I hope that you enjoy the site, visit it often and learn something about one of Athens' great landmarks, the Athens Farmers Market.