Waiting for Peaches in mid-Missouri

March 13, 2007

Alice Waters, the famous restaurateur and advocate for local food systems, works everyday to increase the availability of locally grown food in her neighborhood. She works to catalyze what she calls a “Delicious Revolution” by seducing people with the outstanding flavor of food that is locally grown. This food is so delicious that citizens become loyal to local foods for the flavor and fun as much as because of their social conscience. I have been seduced by the Columbia farmers’ markets, which delight my taste buds and stoke my passion for supporting the local foods movement. Last summer, I bit into the juiciest, tastiest Red Haven peach, and I knew why Saturday is Farmers’ Market Day at my house and why I love the local food systems movement…it truly is a delicious revolution.

There are so many reasons to frequent a farmers’ market. Most obvious, it supports local farmers and local economies, helping them stay afloat in the age of international agribusiness. Plus, it’s nice to put a face to the food; if I’m concerned about the way my food is grown, I know who to ask. Buying locally grown food also contributes to cleaner air by reducing the number of miles food travels from farm to table. This should not be overlooked. In this country, food travels an average of 1300 miles from farm to table, and the transportation sector, which moves food and other goods, now surpasses industry in carbon emissions. A reduction in air pollution is positive for all of us, but could particularly be so for our neighbors in urban centers who live with the chronic health problems caused by poor air quality. In cities like St. Louis, which still have a high degree of racial segregation, African-Americans are the most likely to live in neighborhoods with poor air quality (like those along highway corridors) and are thus most likely to suffer from chronic asthma. In southern Boone County, where most of us are white, we can act against this environmental racism, this unequal burden of befouled air, by buying locally-grown food.

This idea is absurd if we consider only our personal trips to the farmers’ market. But let’s consider our collective impact. According to the USDA, the demand for local food is currently so great that over one billion dollars were spent at farmers’ markets in 2005; this is up 7% from the year before. In Missouri alone, the number of farmers’ markets has doubled in the past decade, going from 53 in 1997 to over 113 today. I don’t know how many pounds of carbon were not released into the air because of farmers’ market sales, but I do think these markets must be making an impact on urban air quality and public health.

Supporting local farmers, cleaning up the environment, even caring about distant neighbors: I can’t remember which of these reasons compelled me to first visit a farmers’ market, but I do know why I go back, week after week during the growing season. It really is the taste. There truly may be nothing quite as seductive on a hot summer day as a locally-grown peach, with so much juice that it drips down your arm as you eat it. The area farmers’ markets are now opening and I look forward to seeing you there (see below for area market information). In the meantime, let’s keep our fingers crossed that the late freeze didn’t wipe out all the peaches.


Boone County Farmers’ Market
I-70 at exit 125, in Columbia
256-1999
Sa 9a-1p (open now) MW 4p-6p (beginning May)

Columbia Farmers’ Market
Next to the ARC recreation center, corner of Ash and Clinkscale Streets
449-4769
Sa 8a-12p (open now) MW 4p-6p (beginning May)

Jefferson City Farmers’ Market
427 Monroe Street, Washington Park Vivion Field parking lot
634-6482
TF 4p-6p (beginning May)

Cole County Farmers’ Market
Hwy 50 to Jefferson City, exit Highway 179, one block south to Missouri Blvd, east to K-Mart parking lot
392-3088
Sa 2:30p-4:30p TF 4p-6p (beginning May)

Jefferson City Downtown Farmers’ Market
On High Street between Jefferson and Monroe, one block from State Capitol
536-2712
W 4p-7p (beginning May)

More MO farmers’ market information: http://agebb.missouri.edu/fmktdir/index.htm