Frontiersman Editorial

Find time for our farmers markets

August 14, 2007

Before convenience stores and the supermarket came on the scene, consumers went right to the source for their goods.

Buying meat meant a trip to your butcher, health care products a visit to the drug store and fresh vegetables were purchased direct from the farmer who grew them. Seeking out these products wasn't a chore, it was a social event.

While the supermarket and one-stop-shopping of mega retailers has done much to simplify and streamline our lives, we can still experience the neighborly please of the past at a local farmers market. In the Mat-Su Valley, we have the Wednesday Farmers Market in Wasilla and Palmer's Friday Fling.

Each are more than a roadside produce stand, bringing the flavors, sounds, smells and talents of our communities together once a week. The concept of a village market is a old as civilization, and it still works on grand scales around the world. It's comforting to know we have an alternative, depending on the season, to buying corn from Colorado, Idaho potatoes and greens of all kinds from California all under one roof.

A visit to a farmers market also is the best way to support local agriculture. By purchasing direct from Valley growers, we not only enjoy the freshest food possible, we allow our neighbors to earn a fair return on their toil. It's difficult for the small grower to sell to the larger chain markets, and when they can are often forced to accept a very low price based on volume the local independent outfit cannot match.

Farmers markets are ideal for growers like Mark Rempel, a third generation grower who farms 12 acres. He's been selling his homegrown produce from his farm since 1962. Pound for pound, he can make almost twice as much money selling direct to consumers at a farmers market.

He also has had the past 45 years to know and appreciate his customers.

Supporting local growers like Rempel and others at the Wasilla and Palmer markets is another way our growing Mat-Su Valley can continue to maintain its small-town feel and sensibilities. It's also good business, because the more we support our family farmers, the more those same farmers will have to spend at other local businesses.

So belly up to the veggie bar and attend a farmers market. It's a good addiction, and what better introduction than the next couple of weeks, when fresh local corn will be on the tables.