Farmers' Markets of the Heartland

CHICAGO

Chicago Because my romance with farmers began here, and because it was home base for my research road trip, we will begin in Chicago, the largest city in the Midwest. At first glance, Chicago’s urban canyons may not seem the most likely place to explore agriculture. But this metropolis is a center for food advocates dedicated to bringing fresh, nourishing food to its citizens. In fact, the dynamic local food culture in this city is in stark contrast to that of the vast rural regions, those remote areas of many heartland states where there are fewer small, diversified farms and thus fewer farmers’ markets. People who do not maintain their own vegetable gardens are obliged to shop at the nearest supermarket , in many cases miles away, and those supermarkets stock produce from even farther locales. This disparity in food cultures throughout the region illustrates only one of the many challenges of access to fresh, local food. Thus, urban centers like Chicago, with hungry eaters looking for fresh seasonal food who have the pocketbooks to afford it, make an ideal market for, well, markets. The city of Chicago farmers’ market program began in 1979 and now has more than twenty distinct farmers’ markets in the downtown core and in neighborhoods scattered across the metro area. 14 chicago Best Gig Ever: Farm Forager In 2006 Chicago hired its first “farm forager” to visit farms and recruit them to participate in the city’s farmers’ markets. Why would a city with abundant clientele need to recruit farmers? Because farmers, like many people, often decide to skip the traffic congestion and parking challenges and settle in the suburbs . Intrepid farmers who make the trek to the city say that the volume of customers keeps them coming back.  Dave Rand’s job as farm forager for the city of Chicago and the Green City Market calls for him to travel five states recruiting growers to join the city’s extensive farmers’ market network. His role is to enlist farmers into the network, to scout production practices to ensure high standards, and also to police vendors, who sometimes “stretch” the idea of local and seasonal food. “Monitoring the markets to ensure that only local foods are on the table is an interesting challenge these days,” Rand says. “The seasonality chart has changed in recent years, in part because of climate change, but also because growers are using hoop houses and other methods to extend the growing season.” In other words, it is harder to spot at market the renegade food from outside a local area when our growing season is lengthening. So Rand visits dozens of growers each season to see firsthand what is in their soil.  Such diligence in market monitoring was not always the norm. A decade ago, vendors would go to Chicago’s famed Fulton wholesale district, pick up nonlocal tomatoes months before they were Farm forager Dave Rand chicago   15 in season in Illinois, and then sell them at area farmers markets without notifying patrons that they were reselling wholesale produce. Today the entire system has evolved so that vendors are now required to adhere to strict guidelines about what constitutes locally grown and to clearly label foods that are not grown on their acreage.  And still, cheaters abound. A 2010 case in Los Angeles made national news and sent the Internet aflutter when a farmers’ market worker said she felt threatened because she reported another vendor for allegedly repackaging produce from Mexico. Small-scale, locally produced food often comes at a premium price and, just as with other businesses, unscrupulous people are willing to take advantage. Although rare, these incidents illustrate the importance of having a relationship with your growers and spending time getting to know them. Chicago markets are operated through the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, and Rand’s salary is split between the city and a private not-for-profit market, Chicago’s Green City Market. Rand explains that this market outside the city system is said to have started in part as a reaction against the loose supervision over city markets at the time.  Rand serves on the board of the Farmers Market Coalition, a national resource for market organizers, who can access its resource library for information on how to create a successful farmers’ market. 16 chicago Chicago’s Green City Market Founded 1998 55+ vendors Wednesdays and Saturdays, May through November...