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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap09-18-074403.asp?t=apnew&vts=91820041818<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap09-18-074403.asp?t=apnew&vts=91820041818>

      WEEKLY FOOD & FARM: Farmers' markets want government to help with 
repairs 
     
            By MALIA RULON
            ASSOCIATED PRESS 
     
     
      WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 - Bill and Vickie Thomas find in Columbus, Ohio, 
what they never will see at their farm: a million potential customers a year 
at the North Market, a farmers' market. It's that traffic level that has 
allowed them to hold on to their family farm. 

             ''It gives us a so-called store where there's lots of people,'' 
said Thomas, who grows apples, peaches, plums and blueberries in Philo, about 
an hour east of Columbus. 
             ''When you sit ... at the farm and wait for them to come, it 
just doesn't happen,'' he said. ''Farmers' markets are what's keeping small 
farmers alive.'' 
             The number of such markets nationwide grew 79 percent between 
1994 and 2002, and more than 3,100 are in business now, the Agriculture 
Department says. 
             Some are more than 100 years old and in need of repair. Federal 
money to do that or construct new markets is now available to cities with 
fewer than 50,000 people. 
             Elsewhere, many farmers, market owners and larger cities say 
they are too cash-strapped to do needed repairs on their own. 
             Ron Paul is leading an effort in Portland, Ore., to build a 
year-round indoor market. He said a seasonal farmers' market has thrived in 
the city for 10 years. Community leaders want to build a permanent bazaar 
that could offer a variety of items related to food, from fresh produce to 
cooking utensils. 
             Paul estimates about $15 million would be required to complete 
work so a public market could move into a renovated historic building. ''We 
are just absolutely crying for an increase in federal assistance for this,'' 
he said. 
             Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, wants the next major farm bill, which 
Congress will write in 2006, to include a new program that would provide up 
to $50 million a year to build new farmers' markets and refurbish older ones. 
             ''The survival of family farmers in our country is going to 
depend on their ability to market to the consumers, most of which live in the 
suburbs and cities,'' Kaptur said. The former urban planner is the senior 
Democrat on the House Appropriations agriculture subcommittee. 
             Donita Anderson has started four markets in the Cleveland area 
since 1995 and says she has requests from 25 other Ohio cities that want to 
open them. ''Our farmers sell out everywhere they go,'' she said. 
             Other directors of farmers' markets say federal help is needed 
to revitalize older markets, some of which are in decaying urban areas. 
             ''On the outside, our market looks really nice, but on the 
inside, it really has a lot of things that need to be done like pipes and 
roof repairs,'' said Eileen Nowak, president of the board of directors for 
the Broadway Farmers Market in Buffalo, N.Y. 
             The 116-year-old market in a poor neighborhood attracts 300,000 
people during the two weeks leading up to Easter. Nowak envisions the market 
becoming a bustling attraction during the rest of the year. 
             ''We feel that without the market thriving, the neighborhood 
won't thrive,'' she said. ''We've got so much potential, but unfortunately 
money is an issue.'' 
             Dan Madigan, executive director of the Farmers Market 
Association of Toledo, Ohio, said his annual budget for operating expenses, 
advertising and repairs comes from the $400-a-year rental fee it charges 50 
members. That leaves no money for upgrades. 
             ''We want to install radiant heating to allow the farmers to 
continue selling through the winter'' in the 172-year-old market, Madigan 
said. ''We also have some plans in place to change the market configuration 
and ease parking concerns, but right now there isn't the resources.'' 


             On the Net: 
             Agriculture Department background: 
<>http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/<http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/>
 

     
     
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