Closing soon:
Why don’t farmers markets operate year-round?
The farmers market season is winding down, but does it really have to?
I come from Romania, a country in Eastern Europe with a climate similar to Pittsburgh’s, where the open market is the heart of the community. It’s a place where people meet, chat, bargain and buy the freshest produce and fruits. I grew up in a culture where eating and purchasing from local farmers markets is the norm.
From dawn until about 6 p.m., seven days a week, all year long, the market gets busy with farmers and small merchants loading their stands with everything from vegetables, fruits and nuts to homemade pasta, bread, honey, jams, eggs and a wide range of dairy products.
Even flowers occupy a special section of the market.
So, why are farmers markets in Pittsburgh open only once a week a few months of the year? The reasons are varied and more complex than you might think.
Local customers, it turns out, don’t shop at farmers markets that often; they still rely on grocery stores for most of their food, local farmers say.
“We need people to really depend on [farmers markets],” said Chris Brittenburg of Who Cooks for You Farm in New Bethlehem, Clarion County.
At this time of year in Romania, the markets are overflowing with seasonal peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and cabbage, and shoppers are bustling to stock their pantries for the coming canning season. As colder weather sets in, they switch to selling winter-friendly produce, such as potatoes, rutabagas, beets, parsnips, herbs and greenhouse harvests.
But in the United States, eating local and in season are still relatively new concepts. “We’re disconnected from the source,” said Isaac Wiegmann of Her Bold Organic Farm in Cadiz, Ohio.
“There should be a relative enthusiasm for local food that’s in season because it tastes good,” Mr. Brittenburg added.
That might be easier said than done in a fast-paced society where buying everything from the supermarket in one shopping trip is the standard.
“The majority is interested in convenience. The thing in this country is to go to one place and buy everything,” said Tim Hileman of Kistaco Farm in Apollo, Pa., one of the owners of Farmers’ Market Cooperative of East Liberty, the only year-round farmers market in Pittsburgh.
A lot of markets are limited in selection and vendors, and there are not enough farmers, Mr. Wiegmann said.
Another hurdle is getting customers to accept less-than-perfectlooking produce. A fresh tomato at a farmers market might have
blemishes but be packed with flavor. That tomato purchased from the grocery store may look perfect, but it may have come from thousands of miles away and is likely tasteless.
Still, there are customers who appreciate farmers’ business and products.
“I like small business [and] real food,” said Jim of Mt. Lebanon, who didn’t give his last name and was shopping recently at the Mt. Lebanon Lions Farmers Market. In his 60s, he said he has been buying from farmers markets his whole life.
“I like fresh, organic produce,” said Sujata Nagaraj, who also was at the Lions Farmers Market. “I like the idea of knowing where it comes from, what’s been done to it.”
Allyson Delnore of Highland Park, a regular customer at the East Liberty Coop, said she likes to buy local produce and shops at farmers markets as much as she can. She also added that “it’s a sizable minority [people who shop at farmers markets] probably because it’s easier and cheaper to get products that are processed and mass-grown.”
There’s a false impression that local, organic food is always more expensive. Zac Combs of Kistaco Farm said it’s expensive to spray produce and fruits with pesticides, and small family farms try to avoid doing that. And at farmers markets, shoppers often buy in bulk so it can be cheaper.
There is a need in Pittsburgh to raise more awareness about the value of farmers markets, informing consumers on access, value and opportunity, some of the farmers said.
“In Pittsburgh there are not enough not-for-profit groups whose sole mission is to connect people with local product,” said Mr. Brittenburg. “They would be the engine for education and connection to increase demand.”
Although customers like Ms. Nagaraj want to see a farmers market every day of the week, logistics can be an obstacle.
“When do I grow my food if I’m here every day?” asked Mr. Hileman. “We want to be here, but we can’t every time,” added Mr. Brittenburg. “It’d be hard to justify five days a week” due to the high cost of transportation, staffing and packing the trucks.
Others said because there are so many seasonal farmers markets in the area, few are really that busy. “We would saturate the market to be in just one location,” said Jon Dillner of Dillner Family Farm in West Deer, who travels and sells his products at various markets in the Pittsburgh region. In its annual guide to farmers markets, the Post-Gazette listed about 75 markets in Allegheny and the contiguous surrounding counties.
So are year-round farmers markets even feasible here?
“Not everybody has production in winter,” Mr. Wiegmann said. And “we need winter to recharge and reassess the plan for the following year,” Mr. Dillner added. And unless it’s an indoor market such as the East Liberty Coop, weather is a challenge.
That doesn’t mean that farmers are not trying to make a living and extend demand throughout winter. “In winter we sell to restaurants and deliver to people through CSA,” Mr. Brittenburg said.
These days, massive supermarkets have also been introduced to Romania, but locals continue to shop at farmers markets because products are fresh, organic, locally grown and cheaper than at the grocery store.
Overall, attitudes may be slowly changing. A report released in 2015 by the Nielsen Global Health and Wellness Survey showed that consumers, especially younger ones, are increasingly focused on clean eating and the benefits of eating more healthfully, and are willing to pay more for it. Many are also concerned about the long-term effects of ingesting artificial ingredients. And a similar study by the same group released in May showed that consumers by far prefer local ingredients to those shipped in from elsewhere.
Maybe farmers markets will continue to grow and become even more popular in Pittsburgh, too.
“If you want better products and taste you have to shop at farmers markets,” Mr. Dillner said.