Print

Share

• Email to a friend
• Add This

Article Rating

Current Rating: (

0

/5)

Low High

(Rated

0

times)

By Alex RoartyOctober 14, 2007

Last updated: Sunday, October 14, 2007 12:13 AM EDT

Plump orange pumpkins sit stacked in front of grocery stores across Cumberland County this month as Halloween approaches. They’re waiting to be bought and carved into jack-o’-lanterns or baked into a loaf of pumpkin bread.

Many people don’t think about where the pumpkins came from. They could be from Mechanicsburg or India — as long as they can be given triangle-shaped eyes, people are satisfied.

But where those pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables were grown, and how far they have traveled, matters, according to those in the produce business.

They say comparing local produce — fruits and vegetables grown in central Pennsylvania — to produce from distant farms in California and China is like comparing, well, apples to oranges.

“It’s more economical for consumers, better for the environment and it keeps money in your community,” said Sandy Miller, a Newburg farmer who is also a member of the Harrisburg-based Buy Fresh, Buy Local advocacy group.

Now Miller’s group and others in the produce business are in a push to persuade grocery stores and the public to purchase more locally grown produce. It’s an effort they say has made progress in recent years but still has a long way to go.

Ecology, flavor figure

Why the push for local products? Produce experts say buying local benefits the region and taste buds. And, they say, it’s safer.

Frank Jurbala oversees the state Department of Agriculture’s Pennsylvania Preferred Program, which seeks to recognize grocery stores that buy produce from Pennsylvania farms. He said produce that’s grown in state, or at least within the country, is cultivated by farmers who must meet safety standards. Those standards don’t apply to produce that comes from another country, he said.

“Developing countries are sending us product that doesn’t meet our standards,” Jurbala said. “People are more concerned where their products are coming from.”

The distance food must travel to reach buyers also affects the environment, according to Susan Richards, the director of Buy Fresh, Buy Local. After all, a tractor-trailer burns more diesel traveling to Cumberland County from California than from York County, Richards said.

She also said buying local produce supports local farms, which provide the rural character for much of the county.

But environmental and community benefits aside, local produce just tastes better, according to produce managers in some of the area’s grocery stores. That’s what happens, they say, when produce doesn’t have to travel for days in a truck or sit in a warehouse for a week.

Jurbala said although his department has yet to conduct on a study on the nutritional value of locally grown food, he thinks it’s healthier, too. He said he is trying to commission the study sometime within the next year.

Local produce, local stores

Grocery store officials are quick to say they buy as much local fruits and vegetables as they can.

Doug Diffenderfer, who buys produce for all seven Karns Food grocery stores, estimates his stores buy 60 percent of their produce from local farms during what he called the state’s growing season — from mid-June through November.

“We try to support it as much as we can,” Diffenderfer said.

Nell’s Shurfine Market on Spring Road buys about 70 percent of its produce locally during the summer, according to produce manager Leroy Freeman. Much of it comes from Oak Grove Farms in Mechanicsburg, he said.

Giant Food Stores and Wegmans also buy locally, officials at each store said. They said their customers prefer produce grown in their back yard.

Grocery stores have made an effort to show their customers they sell Pennsylvania produce. A gallery of signs and photos identifying local produce dots the Wegmans produce department. And Giant, along with Weis Markets, is a part of the Pennsylvania Preferred Program, which certifies the produce they sell was grown on an in-state farm.

Eric Crossing, produce manager of Wegmans in Mechanicsburg, said customers prefer locally grown food.

“People feel more at ease when they see something local,” Crossing said.

And many times local fruits or vegetables picked in the morning can be at the store later in the afternoon, he said.

“You can tell the difference,” Crossing said. “There’s usually a lot more flavor.”

Advocates skeptical

But several local-food advocates say grocery stores aren’t as supportive of local foods as they say.

Rob Amsterdam, who has helped local farms sell their produce for 20 years, said the grocery stores don’t always put their money where their mouth is.

“Grocery stores are telling their customers that they’re all about local produce,” Amsterdam said, “but how much of that is really happening? I don’t know ... everybody is saying it, but there’s a huge variance.”

He said grocery stores have begun buying a little more local produce in recent years as the issue has become more prominent, but they still don’t buy as much as they could.

Amsterdam said many large-scale grocery stores can buy produce out of state more cheaply, because it is shipped in bulk.

Miller said some grocery stores “fool themselves into buying locally.”

Many times, she said, they will buy produce at an auction in the state that was grown elsewhere and then market the produce as locally grown.

Local-food advocates say grocery stores always keep an eye on their bottom line. Therefore, they say, the public is responsible for supporting local farms.

Richards said consumers should “vote with their dollars” to help support local farms when they shop. Confusion over what is and isn’t local isn’t a good excuse to not buy produce produced in Pennsylvania, she said.

“In the long run, it’s incumbent on the consumer to ask the produce department if things are indeed local,” Richards said.

When local fruits, veggies can be had

If you prefer to eat locally grown food, you’re in the right state, according to many in the produce business in the area.

Pennsylvania produces an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables that are available throughout the year.

Below is the list of fruits and vegetables available from local farms during each month. Information is from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Apples, lettuce and mushrooms are available the entire year.

January-February: Celery, potatoes and turnips.

March: Potatoes.

April: Asparagus, potatoes, tomatoes.

May: Asparagus, ONIONS, PEAS, tomatoes.

June: Asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, sweet cherries, onions, peas, spinach, winter squash, strawberries, tomatoes.

July: Lima beans, snap beans, beets, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celery, tart cherries, sweet cherries, cucumbers, sweet corn, eggplant, onions, peaches, peppers, raspberries, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon.

August: Lima beans, snap beans, beets, blackberries, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, celery, cucumbers, sweet corn, eggplant, onions, peaches, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, raspberries, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon.

September: Lima beans, snap beans, beets, broccoli cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, sweet corn, eggplant, onions, peaches, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, raspberries, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon.

October: Lima beans, snap beans, beets, broccoli cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, eggplant, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon.

November: Beets, broccoli cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, plums, potatoes, tomatoes.

December: Beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, plums, potatoes, tomatoes.