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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Policing Connecticut's Locally Grown Produce At Farmers Markets
  • Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:31:37 -0600


Policing Connecticut's Locally Grown Produce At Farmers Markets
By JANICE PODSADA | The Hartford Courant
June 13, 2009
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-bogusvegetables0613.artjun13,0,3514009,fu

ll.story

The offending produce was only a few spears of asparagus, but when it
appeared for sale as "Connecticut Grown" at a state-certified farmers
market last August, vendors grew suspicious.

They called Rick Macsuga at the state of Department of Agriculture to
investigate. He quickly concluded: This was no local bunch he was dealing
with.

"Asparagus season in Connecticut winds up in June. We had a heart-to-heart
talk with that farmer," said Macsuga, the agency's marketing director,
who's also on the prowl for farmers, vendors and grocery stores trying to
pawn off produce as Connecticut grown when it's not.

The state's 123 certified farmers markets are coming into full bloom this
time of year, and by law, vendors can sell only Connecticut-grown farm
products — no cheating allowed.


Those baskets of lush, ripe blueberries labeled local had better not be
from New Jersey. If they are from out of state, violators can face fines
ranging from $25 to $2,500 for every commodity that's mislabeled, said
Macsuga, one of the state's two inspectors.

Macsuga and his colleague aren't the only ones out there checking.

Call them the produce police — the network of agriculture officials,
farmers, market organizers and consumers who protect shoppers from
carpetbagging cabbage. With the popularity of buying local on the rise and
with new farmers markets sprouting up every year like dandelion greens,
it's more important than ever to unearth the few "bad apples," who crop up,
Macsuga said.

"We are very serious about this," he said. "I am not here to improve the
farm economy of a surrounding state."

As for the state's noncertified farmers markets and roadside stands,
officials don't have jurisdiction over them unless they are advertising an
out-of-state product as grown in Connecticut, Macsuga said.

There is no hard count of violations; many are handled informally. So far,
no one has cited an increase in problems this year, but it's early in the
season.

Consumers, who usually pay premium prices for local produce, play a major
role in reporting alleged violators. Calls to state officials led to the
investigation of a Fairfield County farmer. "He was selling California
grapes and figs and cantaloupes as Connecticut grown," Macsuga said. After
repeated warnings, he was fined $10,000, which was negotiated down to
$3,000 or $4,000.

In some cases, consumers' suspicions turn out to be ungrounded.

"We get a lot of calls from people that don't know we can actually grow
peaches, plums, nectarines, cantaloupe and watermelon in Connecticut,"
Macsuga said.

Timing is the key. "If you see mush melons in June, they're not from around
here," he said.

Savvy Shoppers
Many customers don't know what crops are in season locally, said Sherri
Flaminio, the market master who oversees the Simsbury Farmers Market, a
certified venue.

"We had people last week saying where's the tomatoes? Where's the celery?
Where's the cucumbers? Well, it was the first week of June. The tomatoes
will be here around the beginning of July; the cucumbers in a few more
weeks, the celery and melons in August."

Abigale Parker of Collinsville, who spent Thursday afternoon roaming the
Simsbury market, said she tries to be a savvy produce buyer.

"I tend to know what's in season," said Parker, who gardens. "If I had any
suspicions, I'd ask the farmer where it came from. If I thought they didn't
grow it, I wouldn't buy it."

Others, such as Gerry Gordon of Avon, acknowledge that they're not always
sure which fruits and vegetables are in season. "I put my trust in the
farmers market and the vendors," said Gordon, an attorney, whose visit to
the Simsbury market yielded two bags full of fruits and leafy vegetables.

Farmers must be state certified and thoroughly vetted before they're
allowed to sell at a certified market, Flaminio said. Before they're
certified, farmers must provide the agriculture department with detailed
information about the farm's size and the crops they grow, and must submit
to an inspection.

For inspectors, "That means going out to the farm and getting muddy,"
Macsuga said.

If a complaint does arise, the market master or state officials have the
right to make a surprise visit.

"We'd just show up unannounced one day during the week to make sure what
they're bringing in is coming from their farm," said Pam Carignan, a member
of the Simsbury farmers market committee, a group that evaluates vendors.

If it turns out that a vendor is buying from out of state, it's grounds for
"immediate expulsion from the market," said Flaminio, who questioned a
farmer Thursday about asparagus he was selling for $5 a bundle. "I said,
'Hey what are you doing with the asparagus?' And he said it's the end of
the crop."

Farmer or Flim-Flammer?
Nobody can spot a suspicious-looking fruit or vegetable like another
farmer, said Bunny Wilmot, market master at the certified Coventry Farmers
Market, which is in its sixth year.

There's a good reason farmers keep an eye on one another, said Bruce
Kittredge, owner of Bird Song Farm in Hampton.

"People go to these markets to get Connecticut produce. If it's not local
and it's misrepresented it hurts everybody," Kittredge said.

"A bad apple can go down to a regional market and buy produce that isn't
Connecticut grown and undercut the price of local farmers' produce. We grow
green beans, but it's labor intensive and it costs a lot of time to
harvest. We cannot compete with green beans from Mexico, Chile —
wherever," Kittredge said.

"At one market I was at it became increasingly obvious this one vendor was
not a farmer. He was selling an alphabet soup of vegetables, but he wasn't
quite savvy enough to take it out of the bags that said 'product of
Mexico,'" said Kittredge, who's been participating in farmers markets for
the past five years.

Sometimes it's not a fruit or vegetable that raises a red flag, but a
vendor's yield.

"If a farmer has an acre of corn and they're showing up with 60 bags at
every market throughout the summer, that's suspicious," Macsuga said.

Flaminio has donned her boots several times to investigate farmers whose
yields drew suspicion. In each case the allegations proved false, she said.

"Sometimes you get someone who's really good at growing a certain crop,
like beans or corn," Flaminio said. So far, Flaminio has never had to expel
anyone from the Simsbury market, in its second year.

Wilmot, Coventry's market master, however, gave the heave-ho a while back
to a farmer who was buying corn at the Hartford Regional Market and calling
it locally grown. "He wasn't invited back," she said.









  • [Livingontheland] Policing Connecticut's Locally Grown Produce At Farmers Markets, Tradingpost, 06/14/2009

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