15 jan 2007

Money changes hands at the Matakana Farmers Market.

Fresh food bought direct from a local grower. It sounds perfect, but there's more to the growing farmers' market movement than meets the eye, reports Megan Nicol Reed.

Next time you pop in to your local supermarket and pick up a 99c lettuce, consider this: that limp start to a salad is contributing to the ruin of the environment and in buying it, you are too.

Worst-case scenario as outlined by Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons: that outwardly innocent lettuce will have been grown in soil that has been primarily fed with chemical fertilisers and is low in organic matter. Vast amounts of nitrogen will have been applied to grow it as fast as possible and much of that nitrogen will have run off into the stream at the end of the field, leading to alga build-up. It will quite possibly have been picked by a minimum wage worker. And once harvested it will clock up the miles on a truck producing high emissions of greenhouse gases from all the fossil fuels it burns.

So are farmers the baddies? Not exactly. Farmers are being pushed into worse environmental practices by a cut-throat food industry. Fiercely competitive supermarkets pressure farmers to produce more for less, driving them to cultivate more and more intensively, effectively mining the land. By demanding ever cheaper food, says Fitzsimons, consumers are rendering farmers unable to manage their land in a sustainable way.

"I don't think we place enough value as a society on buying quality food and food that's grown with concern for the environment."   So what can you do? Well, you can shop at farmers' markets for starters, says Fitzsimons. In the past two years the number of farmers' markets, places where local growers, farmers and artisan food producers sell their wares directly to the consumer, has doubled to 32 and there are more in the pipeline.

Lauraine Jacobs, a Cuisine magazine food editor, shops every Saturday morning at Matakana Village Farmers' Market in Rodney District, north of Auckland.

"You can buy a lettuce that's been picked that morning by a farmer who grew it, instead of one that's been grown in Gisborne, shipped up to Auckland, and waited in some cool store before being distributed to a supermarket. It will have dew on it rather than being sprayed with water by some little assistant who has to go around every two hours ensuring the lettuce looks fresh."

The self-described champion of farmers' markets says the only fresh item in her supermarket trolley at this time of year is a bunch of bananas.

"The thing I really love is that I can make a connection with the person who has produced the food. It's a big trust thing. I buy my eggs from this girl called Jenny Quayle at Way Beyond Organic Farm's stall and she can virtually tell me which egg came from which hen; she can even tell me how yellow the yolk will be because she knows exactly what the hen that laid it has been eating."

It all sounds terribly simple and deliciously appealing, but John Manhire, programme leader for Argos, an agricultural group researching the sustainability of New Zealand's farming systems, says although farmers' markets may provide experience, taste and variety, they may not be able to monitor quality in the way supermarkets do. "Many farmers' markets have a focus of selling organic products which have perceived attributes of safety, greenness etc. However, depending on how the farmers' market is operated, some of these perceptions may not necessarily be accurate. Supermarkets typically have comprehensive systems to ensure food safety, as the impact on their `brand' of any problems could be very significant."

He also points out there is a range of management strategies and technologies which can mitigate the impact of intensified production on the environment.   "For example, the establishment of fences and riparian plantings alongside streams mean that stock do not have access to waterways and also act as a buffer to stop surplus nutrients (such as fertiliser and urine or dung) flowing into waterways."   Even Fitzsimons doesn't believe farmers' markets will ever replace supermarkets, but she says they present another option for consumer and farmer. The consumer gets better-tasting, fresher food and the farmer gets more cash in their pocket.

"The impact it will have when you buy your lettuce from a farmers' market is that you're supporting that farmer in a way of life that's more sustainable, more environmentally friendly and it gives him or her a livelihood, and that's important."  New Zealand's first farmers' market started in Whangarei nine years ago, but internationally we're late bloomers. In the United States, where farmers' markets began in the 1970s, there are now more than 3000, with an annual turnover of $1.5b.

Analysts put farmers' markets' success overseas down to major food scares and increasing awareness about food miles, the long distances food travels between its point of origin and your plate.

Otago University marketing professor John Guthrie, who has studied the rise of farmers' markets in New Zealand, found that the duopoly of Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises (which control more than 90% of grocery retailing) has given them the power to virtually dictate the conditions under which growers operate.

In a 2004 study, Guthrie found evidence that where growers have turned to farmers' markets, supermarkets have responded by arranging specials on market day to undercut prices, or pressuring other distribution channels to "blacklist" them.   Fitzsimons says that in Thames on the Coromandel she and other like-minded residents struck such tactics. Unable to buy organic goods locally, they set up a co-operative store.  

"As soon as we opened, the supermarket suddenly started selling organic lines and they sold them for less than the organic shop could buy them for. They were using their buying power and their size to squeeze down prices, and it's really only because there was a loyalty to the concept of having a full range of organic things that the shop was able to survive."

Ian Thomas used to be a free-range egg farmer. One of the founders of the Hawke's Bay Farmers' Market, he says his market egg stall sparked exponential growth in his supermarket sales.

"As well as direct sales at a farmers' market, it's a fantastic promotion opportunity. You get to talk to people and they ask you questions. The next week they're in the supermarket and buy your eggs."

Thomas now works with other small food producers, helping them to market their product, and is a member of the Farmers' Market Association working group.

"The market is a fantastic business incubator - it gives them the opportunity to get cash in their first week of operation that they can plough straight back into the business, so it's faster money than they'll get anywhere else.

"They can raise awareness of their brand and get customers to actually taste the product and get some feedback. All this for $25 to $30 a week for the stall hire."

The Economist magazine recently reported that "local is the new organic", then promptly poured water on the phenomenon by citing a British report which found nearly half of the miles travelled by vehicles carrying food were driven by cars going to and from the shops.

"As most people live closer to a supermarket than a farmer's market, more local food could mean more food-vehicle miles. Moving food around in big, carefully packed lorries, as supermarkets do, may in fact be the most efficient way to transport the stuff."

Thomas just laughs.

"During the fruit season in Hawke's Bay there's fruit that's sold in the supermarkets here that's been to Auckland or Palmerston North or Wellington in trucks and then come back down here in those organised trucks.    "Sure, the people who are driving up to Matakana from Auckland would be better supporting the City Farmers' Market at Britomart. But it's not a case of farmers' markets versus supermarkets. Supermarkets are not the enemy. This is about buying garlic that's been grown locally rather than buying Chinese garlic that's been imported. New Zealand imports the thick end of $80 million worth of fresh Chinese produce a year. That's $1.5 million worth a week of imported Chinese produce that we can grow ourselves."

Anyway, he says, food miles are a can of worms, especially in an economy like ours which depends on export dollars.      Manhire's colleagues at Argos recently completed a study highlighting that distance is not a good measure of energy efficiency in food production. As The Economist puts it: "Producing lamb in New Zealand and shipping it to Britain uses less energy than producing British lamb, because farming in New Zealand is less energy intensive."

It concludes by stating that although food is central to the environmental debate, "the potential for food choices to change the world should not be overestimated".

So by rejecting that insipid, plastic-wrapped supermarket lettuce for a fresh one from that nice farmer at the market with his recipe for lettuce-wrapped fish parcels, you're not really doing your bit to save the planet?

Unfortunately, not quite, says Fitzsimons.

"Individual purchasing decisions aren't going to have an impact if the supermarket doesn't know why you didn't buy its lettuce. Consumer power has to be organised for it to have a big impact.

"But while it's not going to change the behaviour of the supermarkets, it is going to support an alternative way of producing food which is more sustainable."

A BEGINNER'S GUIDE WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THEM?

A true farmers' market is governed by a code of practice: "Vendors may only sell what they grow, farm, pickle, preserve, bake, smoke or catch themselves from within a defined local area." Watch out for imposters -handicrafts and olive oil imported from Italy are dead giveaways.

WHAT'S GOOD NOW?

Outdoor tomatoes: They put their hothouse mates to shame.

Aubergines: Look for firm, shiny skin. Perfect grilled on the barbeque.

Basil: Beautiful big bunches you toss fresh with pasta or make pesto with.

Blueberries: Look for juice or sorbet made with these anti-oxidant powerhouses.

Beans: Yellow, butter, runner,

Sweetcorn: Just in season now.

Melons: Should be making an appearance in warmer regions.

WHAT TO BRING

A basket or cloth bag: There are no plastic bags, remember - you're being green. And load up, farmers' markets are for buying food to take home and cook, not just enjoy on the spot.

Walking shoes: Get there early and do the rounds to suss out who has the choicest plums and the best bargains.

An open mind: Don't take a list. Shop according to what's in season and plan your menu once you're there. Appearances can be deceiving, that spot on that tomato might just be the result of fewer sprays. And if the weather's been bad, chances are the quantity and quality of produce will be too.

Time: Farmers' markets are intended to foster community spirit, to act as social hubs, so be prepared to stand around chewing the fat.

A sense of curiosity: Ask how to cook that celeriac. Taste something you've never tried before.

WHERE TO GO

Bay of Islands Farmers' Market Hobson Ave, Kerikeri, Sundays, 8.30am-noon.

Whangarei Growers' Market Rust Ave, Saturdays, 6.30-10.30am.

City Farmers' Market Britomart, Auckland CBD, Saturdays, 8.30am-12.30

Hawke's Bay Farmers' Market Hawke's Bay Showgrounds, Kenilworth Rd, Hastings, Sundays, 8.30am-12.30pm.

Lyttleton Farmers' Market Lyttleton Main School on Oxford St, Saturdays, 10am-1pm

Otago Farmers' Market Railway Station (Nth carpark), Dunedin, Saturdays, 8am-1pm

For a full national directory see www.farmersmarkets.org.nz