Consumers Seek Food Safety at Local Farmers Markets

“The multi-state outbreaks currently in the news are larger than usual, and… thought to be tied to a nationally distributed brand, so Alaska-grown produce is not expected to be involved,” says Assistant State Veterinarian Heather Branvold-Faber. However, she notes that “any produce, local or imported, can become contaminated with cyclospora or other pathogens.”

Duly warned, shoppers still look to local produce as a measure of control.

“[Cyclospora] has definitely been a conversation at the market,” says Garen Tarr, a founding board member for the Anchorage Farmers Market, which marks its 25th anniversary on August 8. “I think people are understanding that [cyclospora] could be another good reason to shop local and just have more awareness of your food supply chain and who has touched it before it comes to you.”

Poindexter and Krapek say demand has exceeded supply. “We can’t really just turn on this faucet and all of a sudden have lettuce magically appear,” Krapek says. Both Anchorage Greens and Juneau Greens run indoor spaces that use lights and grow lettuce plants on a roughly six-week cycle.

As the name implies, Anchor Point Greenhouse also grows plants under protection from the elements, but the long, cold winter took its toll, Poindexter says. “The ground was so cold that we couldn’t get our cucumbers in [to the greenhouse soil], so we had to grow in pots,” he says. “That’s a big experiment” and “a lot more extra work” to cultivate. When the power went off earlier in the year, natural gas-powered heat cut off, killing all his tomato plants. He had to replant a different variety.

“This season has been one for the history books,” says Sarah Bean, owner of Palmer-based Arctic Organics, a traditional outdoor farm. “It’s also been an extremely cold summer. It’s not just [that] the spring came late.” The farm, which returns to the Anchorage Farmers Market in August, may have fewer types of produce to sell at first. Bean says crops are running about three weeks behind.

Common Ground Alaska farm in Big Lake lost forty apple trees, says co-owner Tandy Hogate. It also lost its entire apple crop, “which we’ve never, ever had in any crop before,” she says. “It was like a perfect storm of bad things that happened.” The farm sells fruit and berries on a you-pick basis. This summer, it added a Saturday market to sell produce from a “market garden” and from other farms like Bushes Bunches.

“I was worried about how quickly [the Saturday market] would grow, and it’s growing really well,” Hogate says. She wonders if the cyclospora outbreak has helped. “People definitely talk about it,” she says. “Several people have said that they’re not buying greens and lettuce and things like that in the grocery store and that they’re glad that we’re here.”

Hogate says those sales are especially important in a year like this one. “They’re the heroes,” she says, “the ones that are coming in and buying our stuff, even though sometimes I know we’re a little more expensive.”

Good Food Habits

Wherever consumers buy their produce, Branvold-Faber encourages “good food safety habits, such as washing hands before preparing food, rinsing produce under clean running water, and removing outer leaves when appropriate.” She also notes, “Only a small number of Alaska farms are large enough” to require routine inspections. “Most local growers, including most who sell at farmers markets, are exempt from routine inspections.”

Local produce is becoming more accessible to Alaska shoppers. “We’ve seen booming farmer’s market growth over the years,” says Amanda Swanson, who helps run the state’s Alaska Grown program. Farmers markets across the state have grown from thirteen in 2005 to sixty-five now registered with the Alaska Farmers Market Association. To help people find their local market, Alaska Grown now has a search tool that lets users search by item or ZIP code.

Swanson adds that even a small weekly investment in locally produced food makes a huge difference. “If every household spent $5 a week… that would generate about $66 million in sales,” she says. Increased sales would allow farmers to grow more, thereby improving Alaska’s food security.

Tarr thinks Alaska-grown produce can also be more economical than people realize. “If you get greens that were harvested that morning, maybe they last several days longer” than imported produce, she says, reducing food waste. In effect, then, “sometimes a local produced item can be less expensive… because it didn’t have 3,000 miles of transport from Arizona.” She notes that programs like WIC or Senior Bucks also support purchases at farmers markets. Usually vendors that participate in the programs will display signage showing they accept such payments.