Amidst all the sordid tales from far and wide about so-called "farmers markets" that are overrun with hucksters reselling wholesale produce as if they grew it themselves, here's a story about the real deal. The 40-year-old farmers market in Santa Fe, New Mexico, vigilantly guards against peddlers, and enforces rigid rules to ensure that all produce in the market is truly locally grown. The market is thriving.
Jake “The Melon Man” West is a rare exception to the regional rule. His farm is 165 miles away, out in the plains east of Albuquerque near Fort Sumner, outside the 15-county northern sector of the state. The Santa Fe New Mexican recently explained how West got in the door:
“Santa Fe Farmers Market Manager Shaun Adams said West has been coming to the market for about 30 of its 40 years, and is one of the few farmers allowed from outside the 15 counties of Northern New Mexico. 'His watermelon is such a good product that we have to (let him come to Santa Fe),' Adams added. 'Being down south, they have slightly different farming season than we do.'
“West’s wife, Leona Frances West, said they got involved with the Santa Fe Farmers Market after reading about it in New Mexico Magazine. Their oldest son, Kenneth, drove up with a load of cantaloupes but wasn’t allowed to come in at first. ‘They said, You stay right there. Don’t even get out of that pickup,’ she said. ‘But our cantaloupe, you can smell them everywhere. So people would come up and say, I want to buy one. So they finally said, OK, you can come in.’”
The market management outlines its local-only rule on the market association's Web site:
“Unlike most farmers' markets in the US, the Santa Fe Farmers Market assures that all products sold by its vendors are always locally grown by the people selling them. 100% of the vegetables, fruits, and nursery plants available at Santa Fe Farmers Markets are grown right here in northern New Mexico. The same goes for at least 80% of the ingredients and materials used to make all processed and craft items. Furthermore, no reselling is permitted.”
Rigidly enforcing the rule has paid off for real farmers, and for consumers, as well. Freed from unfair competition from cut-rate wholesale produce from far away, the local farmers have been encouraged to innovate, which has, in turn, increased demand. That, in turn, enabled the market to begin operating year-round in 2002. “With more and more farmers using extended growing techniques, the 'off season' becomes more successful every year,” the market management says. There are bigger plans for further expansion, with a new, indoor market facility slated to open next spring.
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