Fresh, quality food attracts area residents to Grassroots Farmers Market

GRANVILLE, OH — The shoppers come, many on foot, for unique reasons.

For some, it’s the incomparable taste of food made the old-fashioned way, with personal care and real ingredients. For others, it’s the chance to support and get to know local entrepreneurs. Or maybe they are a values customer, seeking goods produced in an Earth-friendly way.

Whatever their motivation, patrons continue to turn out every other Saturday for the Grassroots Farmers Market, which became a year-round market in February 2007.

Between 1994 and 2006, the number of farmers markets in America more than doubled — from 1,755 to 4,385 — according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An 18 percent increase occurred between 2004 and 2006.Granville’s Pilgrim Lutheran Church, at the corner of Broadway and Cherry streets, offers the only winter market in the county. In Franklin County, Worthington started one in 2007.

Sue Renner, one of the market founders, said vendor and shopper attendance fluctuate, but generally the winter market has six to 14 vendors, peddling everything from hormone-free beef and artisan cheeses to handknit-scarves, salsa and homemade candy. The market takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

Lelia Hoiriis, of Granville, said she has been coming every weekend and specifically seeks out Renner’s baked goods.

On Jan. 12, Hoiriis picked up an apple walnut streusel coffee cake.

“It’s just so delicious,” she said. “She’s my favorite one of all the bakers. It’s all real (ingredients).”

Mary McKee, of Newark, said she also is attracted to the market because of the quality. Her favorite vendor is Long Meadows beef.

“The difference is remarkable,” she said. “It’s full of flavor, and it’s not greasy at all.”

Nancy Rose, co-owner of the Utica farm, said the key to the lean flavor is the fact her cows are grass-fed. They graze on organically grown grasses and hay, which means it takes them longer to reach maturity than grain-fed animals. However, their meat is leaner, and they don’t require antibiotics.

A repeat customer, McKee said the farmers market experience also is a nostalgic one, reminding her of going to the butcher as a child.

“It’s the personal relationship,” she said.

Vendors can rent a booth for $10 on a Saturday. They can bring their own table or borrow one for an extra $5. They must have a vendor’s license, and their wares must be homemade or homegrown in Ohio.

For some, the market business is supplemental income or a hobby — Renner is a full-time nurse. For others, it’s a chance to test-run a future business.

Tim Blake, of Newark, started selling his homemade salsa at the market a few months ago after receiving encouragement from his friends. He has developed nine varieties and is working on a raspberry flavor.

“I just tinkered and tinkered and tinkered for years until I found something I liked,” he said. “It was a joke up until now, but it’s selling pretty well.”

Blake said he grows most of the ingredients in his garden in the summer: tomatoes, onions, peppers. In the winter, he buys his ingredients at the grocery.

Produce is less abundant at the winter market, but Renner said some vendors extend their growing season with greenhouses.

“I normally stock up,” said Shari Ketron, of Granville. “Anymore, how often do you hear another recall? You just don’t know what’s going on in the plants and stuff. It’s nice to support the local people.”

By TIFFANY EDWARDS

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/NEWS01/801200307/1002