Farmer's markets offer benefits for growers and customers

Whether it's under a canopy of shade trees in Arena Park or an afternoon open-air bazaar at the Plaza Galleria parking lot, farmers markets have returned for the summer with their bounty of early spring crops and the promise of sweet corn and melons in mid-summer.

The informality of a farmers market stops with the location. Not just anyone with a box of tomatoes can back in his pickup truck and sell at either market.

The Cape Alternative Farmers Market is governed by a board of directors that regulates where the produce is grown, assures that no one sells anything bought from another source, and that vendors grow on a large enough scale to sell produce every week. The market is open on Wednesday mornings at Arena Park.

"This is not for backyard gardeners," said Connie Scharenborg, a member of the board of directors. "We're looking for good-size crops."

The Cape Girardeau Farmers Market is incorporated and run by a panel of officers, says Marilyn Peters, marketing manager. Vendors sell every Thursday afternoon at the Plaza Galleria parking lot.

A maximum of 18 members sell on a regular basis, and new members are accepted only if a former member drops out.

"We have an organizational meeting in March," Peters said. "Members buy a spot for the year." Their fee pays for the lot rental, insurance and advertising.

The two markets work in conjunction, not in competition. The Cape Girardeau Farmers Market, which has been at its same location for 20 years, is open in the afternoon for the convenience of people who want to stop in on their way home from work. Consumers who can easily get their purchases home for safe storage often stop by the Cape Alternative Farmers Market, in its second year of business, which sells in the cool of the morning.

Demand for fresh produce is growing. The Cape Alternative Farmers Market has opened a Thursday-afternoon market at the corner of Washington Street and Union Avenue in Jackson, and Peters said her group is working on adding a day later in the season.

Both markets abide by their self-imposed rules and by state and federal regulations. Live animals are not allowed for sale at either market. Those who sell eggs, honey, canned goods and bakery items have to meet state and health department specifications. Those who sell eggs and processed chickens must have state licenses, and the few who sell processed beef or pork go through federal regulations. Scharenborg said most growers also carry product liability insurance on their goods.

Some vendors who participate in the local markets also sell their produce in Carbondale, and some Illinois farmers sell at the Cape Girardeau markets. The market in Carbondale is open from 8 a.m. to non every Saturday at the Murdale Shopping Plaza.

Union County, Ill., farmers sell their produce from 7 a.m. to noon at the old Wal-Mart parking lot in Anna, but because the market is sponsored by the Anna Chamber of Commerce it is restricted to Union County farmers and the produce must be grown in the county, said Bill Jackson, who is involved with the market. Jackson said each Illinois community that has a farmers market has its own regulations governing who can sell and what they can sell.

The village of Pulaski, Ill., is opening a farmers market July 2, said Village Clerk Ardis Ward. Anyone who wants to sell produce is encouraged to call her at 618-342-6700 for a booth on Market Street downtown. The Pulaski farmers market is so new, she said, that no regulations have been established. Anyone from Missouri or Illinois is welcome, she said.

Other farmers markets in Missouri are in Bollinger County east of Marble Hill on Highway 34 from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, and in Sikeston at Lowe's Parking lot on South Main from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Farmers markets don't charge sales taxes on their goods and are exempt from local license requirements. Vendors who sell arts and craft items at farmers markets are, however, required to have a city vendor's license.

Farmers markets are a vital segment of the local business community.

"The way we look at it, they help producers," said John Mehner, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "From an agribusiness standpoint, it gives them another way to sell their produce. It gives an additional option to the consumers."

Vendors like the independence that goes with selling at a farmers market.

"I like direct sales," said Bob Bailey of Hayti, Mo., from behind a display of honey, salsa, flavored oils, and jams and jellies at the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market on a humid Thursday afternoon. "I don't have to jump through anybody else's hoops but mine."

Selling his products at the local farmers market, and one in Carbondale, Ill., for the past seven years, is testimony to the quality of his products, Bailey said. He doesn't have to pay to advertise his goods, he said. Word of mouth does that for him.

Scharenborg said customers rely on farmers markets to sell them the freshest possible produce.

"People really want to know the person growing what they are going to eat," Scharenborg said. "They want you to educate them on the value of whatever you are selling, what the health benefits are. The consumer wants to know where the produce was grown and if you use chemicals and what kind you use."

"A lot of the stuff that we bring in was still in the field that morning, " Peters said.

The vegetables and fruits are fresh and carefully tended, but because of strict government regulations no one locally can say their produce is organically grown.

"Most farmers cannot afford to do organic growing, but that does not mean they're not growing by organic standards," Scharenborg said.

"We have a man who grows 'environmentally friendly' produce," Peters said. "The state has in the past few years put tight controls on what can be called organic."