B—The8 —The Daily Collegian Monday, July 26,1976
Farmers' market eliminates middlemen,extra costs
Who will buy?
Fresh produce and vegetables, baked goods and homemade ice cream abound at the “Food for
Thought” cooperative’s farmers' market which operates out of the parking lot at Dean’s
Market on the Benner Pike each Friday afternoon. The market offers the consumer an oppor
tunity to spare himself the middleman’s cost.
Agricultural economist praises low overhead, fresh produce of farmers' market
' Jim Toothman is one of the most en
thusiastic supporters of farmers’
markets. According to Toothman,
associate professor of agricultural
economics at the Pennsylvania State
University, a good farmer could make a
living on 30 acres or less if he grows a
variety of crops and can sell his produce
at a farmers’ market. The average U.S.
farm is about 385 acres.
“If he has access to a good farmers’
market, a produce grower can often sell
in a few hours what it might take him
days to sell at a roadside stand outside
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his farm,” Toothman said.
Toothman noted that the costs of
producing and harvesting most
vegetables and small fruits in Penn
sylvania and other eastern states is
relatively high. But there are millions of
consumers nearby, Toothman pointed
out. Farmers can expand sales by
selling at locations in cities and suburbs
where the consumers are, according to
Toothman. Farmers’ markets provide
an outlet with low-cost overhead.
Toothman, who helped organize
farmers’ markets at Harrisburg and
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Wilkes-Barre, worked with the local
group in setting up its organizational
structure. According to Toothman,
farmers’ markets are organized in one
of three forms. There are the seasonal,
open-air markets with stalls located in
parking lots. A second form are curb
markets where the producer sells
directly from his or her truck on city
streets. The third are privately-owned
buildings in which the owner rents space
to a mixture of farmers and merchants
for a year-round market. Within the last
three years, 18 seasonal, open-air
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Rootbeer floats made with homemade ice cream
and homemade rootbeer, organic whole wheat
bread, homemade bagels, butter and sugar corn
picked only a couple hours earlier, cherry pie baked
that morning and a variety of other baked goods and
produce filled the stands at the Farmer's Market on
the Benner Pike.
“We didn’t know what to expect when we opened
last week,” Dana Harjan said. “But people were
waiting when we arrived and looked over our stuff
as we unloaded it. We couldn’t sell until 3:30, but
people wanted to buy before that.”
Harlan is a member of the “Food for Thought”
cooperative, a group of five families in Coburn, who
have joined with 17. others from Centre County to
form the Central Pennsylvania Farmers’ Market
Association. Last March the association was.
organized to provide a market for locally grown
produce.
Operating from the parking lot donated rent-free
by Dean's Market on the Benner Pike, the market is
one of about 90 farmers’ markets throughout
Pennsylvania, according to James Toothman,
associate professor of agricultural economics. Such
markets were the earliest form of markets in the
United States. In Pennsylvania, they have been in
operation at least since 1710 when market houses in
Philadelphia rented stalls to area farmers.
The number of markets has varied throughout the
years. But since 1973 there has been a surge of in
terest in continuing and starting more of these
markets, according to Toothman. He attributed it to
the rise in food prices, increased consumer interest
in the nutritional value of foods and the sharp rise in
marketing costs for the farmer.
For the small farmer, selling directly to the
public is more profitable than dealing with a
middleman, according to Toothman. He' pointed out
that between 55 and 75 per cent of the retail price of
fresh produce in the grocery store is the costs and
profits of the middleman. Toothman said that this
marketing margin could be added to the farmer’s
net income by selling directly to the public.
As for the consumer’s concern for obtaining fresh,
quality produce at a reasonable price, Toothman
said, “What better way is there than buying directly
from the farmer?”
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By JOANNE HOLLAR
Collegian Staff Writer
markets have opened in Pennsylvania,
according to Toothman. This brings the
total to about 90 throughout the state, he
said. According to Toothman, Penn
sylvania is the leading state in farm-to
consumer marketing.
Part of the reason behind this growth
is the active support provided by Penn
sylvania’s Department of Agriculture.
According to Albert Papa, economist
and head planner of the marketing
project at the Pennsylvania’s
Agricultural Department, the depart
ment’s efforts were spurred by the loss
Dan Hamer, association president, agreed oh the
importance of quality. “The only way to ensure
quality is to grow your own,” Harner said.
“Everything must be your own is one of our rules.”
Other producers at the market expressed similar
ideas. 1
“We want to get people back to buying locally
produced fresh goods,” Barbara Broskley, another
cooperative member, said. “We don’t pick the
produce until noon, and I bake in the morning.”
Cynthia Yorks of State College, who sells baked
goods at her stand, also emphasized the importance
of freshness and quality. Yorks bakes her pies early
Friday morning to sell in the afternoon.
"People don't want pies unless they are ab
solutely fresh,” Yorks said. “They don’t want
canned fillings.”
According to Yorks, customers ask her if all the
ingredients are fresh. “I don’t use any other,” she
said.
Howard Ardry of Howard RD said it’s important
to keep picking produce to ensure freshness. “If you
want to keep produce fresh, you must pick twice a
week,” Arclry said. “Otherwise your com and beans
will get tough.”
Ardry also sells at the Bellefonte Farmers’.
Market and to local grocery stores. He said he
would like to see the market expand to two days a
week to ensure the fresh quality of the produce.
“You can’t keep fresh produce in mint condition for
long,” Ardry said.
Ardry is one of the few full-time farmers in the
association. Of the 22 members, only seven or eight
work their farms for their livelihoods, according to
Harner. The rest have plots larger than the average
backyard garden but not large enough to make a
fulltime living, Harner said.
For example, the five families in the cooperative
are each cultivating about one quarter to one third
acre of land, according to Harlan. At the same time,
they are building their homes and holding down
other jobs. Yorks works a full-time, nine-to-five job
and does her own baking in the evenings.
Before the market opened, Hamer said he made a
trip to the Lewisburg farmers' market, which has
been operating since the 19305, to see how it is
organized and to check prices. Hamer said they try
to keep their prices in line with those charged by
other markets.
“Everybody sets his own price within the
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of 4,500 dairy farms in Pennsylvania in
the last two years.
To reverse the trend and to encourage
small-scale farming, the department
has helped to organize federations of
food clubs that buy directly from far
mers. The clubs save money and the
farmers increase profits.
The department also certifies and
inspects farmers’ markets. If markets
heed help, state and local governments
step in. Further, as a guide to' con
sumers, the department prints farmer
to-consumer directories, listing far-
association,” Hamer said. “But we’re all fanners
and it doesn’t do anyone any good to cut prices. ”
According to Broskley, the association members'
have agreed not to undersell one another. However,
they do try to price below the supermarkets because
there is no middleman, Broskley said. “We don’t
want to charge for the freshness of our products,”
she said.
But Ardry pointed out that the farmer has to
make money, too, because his costs go up lifo
everyone else’s. v ‘
According to association members, local
response has been very good. “We’ve been very
gratified with how people have turned out,” Hamer
said.
Most of the producers were sold out within the
first 90 minutes at last week’s opening, according to
Hamer.
“We returned home with only one head of cab
bage,” Broskley said.
According to Ardry, the crowd was as large this
past Friday as last. He said he pulled 200 dozen ears
of com for Friday’s market and most were gone
within the first couple of hours. Hamer said he sold
out his 32 dozen ears of com within the first half,
hour.
“Today they took every pie I had before I could
turn around,” Yorks said.
Harlan said that last week many customers said
they were happy to see the market and hoped it
would continue every week. Many of those people
were back this week, Harlan said.
“Knowing' someone wants your product and,\
enjoys it is important,’ ’ Yorks said.
Depending on continued consumer response and
the addition of more producers, Hamer said they
hope to operate the market every Friday from 3:30
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. through October. Hamer said he
expected that more farmers would be selling in the
coming weeks as more crops are ready for harvest.
For example, he said next week he expects a 15i
more com and some tomatoes to be available.
Harlan said they , were striving for as much
variety as. possible. “But you can’t count on your
crops until you harvest them,” Harlan said. He
pointed out that the cooperative’s fruit crop was lost
this spring because of the frost.
. According to Harlan, more producers are needed. v
“Anyone who needs a market for produce i&<’
welcome to join,” Harlan said.
mers’ markets, roadside stands and
“pick-your-own” farms'throughout the '
state.
According to Papa, food shoppers can
save 25 to 50 per cent by buying directly
from the farmer. The savings represent
the retailer’s markup for waste, spoilage '
and handling costs, he pointed out.
The .farmer also benefits. “Direct,
marketing enables growers to gain
returns higher than market wholesale
prices which are usually only 20 to 50 per
cent of retail,” Toothman said.
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